A PASSIVE CHRISTIAN
Being born and brought up as a practicing Catholic, Christianity has always been a part of my life. However, I never really knew who Christ really was. I thought of Jesus as someone sitting on his throne looking down on me, watching what I was doing and judging me. I thought that he was making a note of the times when I sinned or did anything wrong. Also, my prayer life was very boring. I found it hard to pray as I simply didn’t know how to pray or what to pray for. I thought that as Jesus was God he would never understand my problems or how I felt deep inside, so was there any point in praying anyway? I knew so little then about Jesus Christ.
GOD BECAME MAN
Hebrews 4: 14- 15 tells us, “Since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet he did not sin.” Jesus, in his earthly life was also tempted in every way possible just like everyone else, yet he did not sin. So how can we ever feel that God does not understand us? He knows the challenges that we face. Philippians 2: 5-8 tells us how God humbled himself to become a man in order to identify himself with us humans. Jesus was true man and true God and as a man he experienced the same emotions as us. We read in the Gospels how he expressed his love, compassion, sorrow, mercy, and anger. This shows that Jesus knows what it is like to be human just like you and me.
HE UNDERSTANDS US
We are so blessed to have a God who actually understands us and sympathizes with our weakness. Jeremiah 1:5 says “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Christ is the only person who understands us inside out. He knows why we fall, where we fall and how we fall because he knew us even before our mother found out she was carrying us. Therefore, let us not drift away from God, rather let’s cling onto him just like a child who clings on to his father. The Bible says “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” (James 4:8). This is true. If you take your closest friend for example, the more time you spend with them, the closer you become and you find yourselves wanting to say and do the same things. This is the same with Jesus Christ. When we are close to him we don’t have to speak words for him to understand us. Just a thought or a glance at him and he knows our every thought and prayer. When we share everything with Christ, all our successes and failures, he will rejoice with us, shed a tear with us and sometimes have a laugh with us too.
CHRIST WALKS WITH US
My image of Jesus was all wrong, rather than sitting in his kingdom watching how we are doing, I now realize that he walks with us. Whatever we do and wherever we go, he is always beside us but we usually don’t realize that he is there. Deuteronomy 31: 6 says “It is the Lord your God who goes with you; he will not fail you or forsake you.” So, let us rejoice that Jesus Christ is beside us 24/7 and he is with us in everything that we do. Try having a chat with Jesus today just like an intimate friend who knows everything about you. You don’t have to change in order to experience Christ in your life; because Jesus, himself, will change you. Simply seek Christ and glorify him in all that you do. Just wait and see how he is going to change you. Jesus is the most understanding, faithful, supporting and loving friend you can ever have. Let us enjoy the warmth of this beautiful friendship all our life.
“You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15: 14-15
Written By : Sharon Thomas