Running to Jesus

Now that I am retired, I still work part time as access control at an Reserve Armoury, located here in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is a very old building, that was originally completed in construction, back in 1899. The building is actually being refurbished, as an historical site, to the tune of millions and millions of dollars as we speak.

Here is a picture of what it looks like from the outside and you can click here if you would like to know more about it.

The drill hall area is relatively big, and covers a significant amount of square footage. On days that I am working, and I arrive here early in the morning, before anyone else arrives, this is where I walk and say my prayers.

This morning, as I was walking and praying, the thought came to my mind, “if you saw Jesus here, at the other end of the drill hall, what would you do?”.

I knew the answer right away. I would immediately go to Him, actually I would run to Him and kneel at His feet, waiting for Him to either touch me or tell me to stand up. Of course, I have never seen Jesus but when I do imagine seeing Him, I remind myself, how young that He is and that Jesus knows me. And I am also mindful of what He endured for you and for me, so that we might be reconciled with our heavenly Father.

That kind of boggles one’s mind doesn’t it? How can you know someone that you have never met? And of course, we are not talking about a superficial “knowing”, like I know who Jesus is. Jesus knows me like no other and over the years, I have come to know more and more about Jesus, the only begotten Son of God. When I think of “knowing” Jesus, I am also mindful of the Scripture wherein Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23 NASB:

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness.”

That part where Jesus says, “but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter” and ” I never knew you; leave Me, you who practice lawlessness”, should really get out attention.

And what is the will of our heavenly Father? Jesus answers that for us in John 6:40 NASB where He says; “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

But there’s more!

There is that “lawlessness” that negates the reality of Jesus knowing us. I don’t know about you but I’m thinking that it is really important to understand just what that “lawlessness” speaks to.

Gotquestions.org has a very good overview on “lawlessness” and you can view it here should you wish to do so. I won’t quote all of it but this particular portion caught my attention:

“Christ died on the cross “to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:14, ESV). Our lawless deeds resulted in Christ’s death, but God’s grace overcomes our lawless hearts.”

That “grace” is personified or exhibited in God’s Son, who was sent by the Father. There is only One who is good and that goodness originates and flows from the Father (Mark 10:18).

The fact that Jesus specifically points out to us that it is NOT what we do In His Name (our works or what we have done) that validates Jesus “knowing” us, but rather our continued acknowledgement of and dependency on, seeking and obtaining God’s continued daily grace, to facilitate Jesus working in us, conforming us to fulfill all of Jesus’ commandments, is what is of paramount importance. Exactly like Jesus Himself did with His total reliance on the Father (John 5:30).

Jesus specifically told us that without Him, we could do nothing (John 15:4-5). Once we focus on what we have done and not the author of those works, we place the works in and of themselves, above the author, and they (our works), either consciously or subconsciously become our justification. Conversely, those who profess to know and follow Jesus, but have no daily commitment with respect to following or fulfilling God’s will (Matthew 16:24), are fooling themselves.

This may sound harsh to some, but I would submit, that is how I read what Jesus says in the Scripture verses I have quoted and I believe that Jesus told us these things for a reason . If you think I am wrong, which is always a possibility, you are more than welcome to correct me.

I can tell you for a fact, that I have been in the latter camp a number of times. It’s been a long journey and yes, God’s grace boggles my mind and we should always be mindful of God’s grace to ourselves, when speaking with others. Where someone is today does not cement where someday they may be and it behooves us to be mindful of our own shortsightedness in our past.

I am not any better than anyone else, I am still deficient in more areas than I would like to acknowledge, but if I saw Jesus today, I could easily run to Him. And for that, I am grateful.

Worthy is the Lamb! Blessings!