Ok I'm going to take a break from all the fun things happening in Belize and talk about the real things in my journey right now.
**Disclaimer: this may or may not get a bit preacher-y. So bear with me.**
My fabulous older sister, Melanie, from The Realization of Good, posted recently about the book, The Story: Recapture the Mystery by Steven James (read her post here). She gave me the book probably half a year ago to read, telling me, "This is so good and it's going to change your life." Of course, being the younger sister that I am, I didn't believe her at first.
But this book has truly changed my view of Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus, which has ultimately changed my life. I could give you example upon example of lessons I've learned or thoughts I've had or light-bulb moments when I've experienced Jesus in such a real way but today I want to share with you the Reality of my Jesus.
Doesn't it just give you shivers of excitement to think about actually meeting Him and hugging Him and seeing His scars when we get to heaven? I get so excited thinking about that. But it hit me really hard when I read a portion in James' book about Jesus' sacrifice and the scars in His hands.
Think about it with me for a little. Jesus, our Creator, came to earth as a human(which, if you ask me, is in and of itself, no easy feat!) and loved on so many people, changed people's lives, made some amazing friends, and then died for all of them and all of us! I'm sorry but that just blows my mind. I seriously can not force my tiny human brain to fathom it.
And then I think about His scars. The ones He received for me.
You know, I grew up in a Christian home. I've known about Jesus' amazing sacrifice since I was a baby. And yet I barely think about the crucifixion. Why is this? I don't know. It seems as though I have become so focused on the truly amazing fact that Jesus even loves me that I have forgotten the most amazing sacrifice anyone has ever made for me!
So when I thought about Jesus' scars in His hands today, I had to wonder how I'll react when I see them for real. If I were to see them today, would it impact me at all? Would I be overcome with emotion? Or would I just be like, "Oh yeah, You died for me. Oops. Sorry Jesus! I kind of forgot." Because that is honestly how I am sometimes. This is a problem people. If I am truly a follower of Jesus Christ, how is it that I could possibly forget that Jesus died for me?!?
So here's my challenge for not only you, but for myself: When you think about Jesus, or how much He loves you, or whatever, please, do NOT forget His sacrifice of love. As cliché as it may sound, Jesus' sacrifice was the greatest act of love that any man could ever show. As Christians, let's stop and think about how amazing that is. And in doing so, let's live our everyday lives in such a way that we show Him how grateful we are to be given that chance of eternal life.
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