A Year with Jesus

Note from Jesus

Dear Friend,

You need to treat the issues of the kingdom with a sense of urgency. There is never a time to be complacent. As you read the verses below, you will see that I emphasized the need for a great sense of urgency.

For those who first heard My words in the verses below, there was going to be an important moment of decision. My rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection were going to lead to a moment of supreme decision for everyone. This moment of supreme decision for all who knew and heard Me was coming sooner than anyone wanted to recognize. This decision would tear families apart because some would wholly reject Me, considering Me a blasphemer and a troublemaker, while others would see Me as I AM - the Holy One of God sent to save them.

For you, this decision is one you must make continuously: What will you do with Me? Am I a liar and a lunatic or LORD? And if I am LORD, how will you live differently from those around you? Yes, this is a decision of continuous urgency!

Verses to Live

While you don't face exactly the same scenario as these first hearers of My message, you are confronted with a challenge by the things I've said. You must feel a sense of urgency about where to invest your life. Your attachment to the world can easily lead you to live in apathy and approach important spiritual matters with complacency. So I'm challenging you today with passionate and serious language and strong images because you must decide what you are going to do with Me.

Jesus to His disciples:
This is serious business we're involved in. My mission is to send a purging fire on the earth! In fact, I can hardly wait to see the smoke rising. I have a kind of baptism to go through, and I can't relax until My mission is accomplished! Do you think I've come with a nice little message of peace? No way. Believe Me, My message will divide. It will divide a household of five into three against two or two against three. It will divide father against son and son against father; mother against daughter and daughter against mother; mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

(speaking to the crowd) You see a cloud arise from the sea in the west, and you can say, "Here comes a shower!" And you're right. Or you feel the hot wind blowing in from the desert in the south and you say, "It's going to be really hot!" And you're right. Listen, hypocrites! You can predict the weather by paying attention to the sky and the earth, but why can't you interpret the urgency of this present moment? Why don't you see it for yourselves?

Imagine you're being sued. You and your accuser are on your way to court. Wouldn't you do everything in your power to settle out of court before you stand before the magistrate? After all, he might drag you to stand before the judge, and the judge might hand you over to the police, and they might throw you in jail. Once you're in jail, it's too late: you're not going anywhere until you've paid in full.
(Luke 12:49-59)

Response in Prayer

Almighty God, I confess that I can become complacent, sometimes even apathetic, about my life as Jesus' disciple. There are so many things crowding into my heart for my attention. So today, I pray the prayer Moses offered many centuries ago: Lord, "teach us to number our days so that we may get a heart of wisdom."* I want to live every moment for Jesus with passion and courage. I don't want to waste any moments You give me and fritter away my life on what doesn't matter eternally. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.

* Psalm 90:12 ESV, from a psalm described as "A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God."