Friday, May 25, 2012

More Compelling, More Engaging, More Awesome

We have just started a series of messages at our church on the book of Colossians called, "Jesus + Nothing = Everything." I am pretty fired up about the revolution that will happen in our lives as we grasp the most important reality in the world.  Here is an excerpt on this topic from the book “Simply Jesus” by Joseph Stowell.

“I’m only in my early 60s, and I already find myself weary of the hollow memories of the few accomplishments I have mustered in my life. My failures continue to embarrass me – the inadequacies I have carried, and my insecurities still trouble my soul. The praises of others has an increasingly hollow ring. I am tired of worrying about whether or not the sermon I preached was good enough. … I just flat out get tired of me. But I never get tired of Jesus. After all the these years, I find him more compelling, more engaging, more awesome, more surprising, more fulfilling, and more attractive than ever before. I never get tired of singing his praises or watching him perform. I find him gripping, absorbing, and beyond comprehension, and that’s why I find myself longing to know him better.

I’m becoming increasingly aware that life doesn’t go on forever … and we live like we’ll never die. Time moves us on and before long we’ll all be on the edge of life in the past tense. And if life up to that point has been all about me, that’s going to be a sad and empty day, because all I will have will be me. But if my life has been about knowing Jesus and experiencing a deepening relationship with him, as I sit in that corner of the nursing home wondering what’s for lunch, he will be there with me – the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the desire of nations, the Lion of Judah, the Bright and Morning Star will be there with me. And he will be more beautiful to me on that day than ever before. His presence will be my companion. He’ll talk with me and I won’t have any problem hearing me when he tells me I’m his own. He’ll say to me, “You’re almost home.” And I’ll say, “The sooner the better because I’ve heard your voice through all these years and I can’t wait to see your face. You and I will be having such a grand time of fellowship that I might just miss that lunch bell.”