If we want to be like Jesus…

I have been doing some thinking lately about my desire to live a life that resembles that of Jesus.  I want to be like Jesus in my interaction with other people, the ethical and moral decisions that I make, in my dealings with people who are less fortunate than me and my neighbors, basically in the life, death, and most importantly the resurrection that Jesus experienced.  Paul says that anyone in Christ is sealed with the Spirit of God, which he calls the firstfruits of what is to come.  Other language calls this the down payment on the future that is ours in Christ.  So somehow, here and now, available to me is a foretaste of the resurrected life we are promised to anyone who is in Christ.  If Jesus is/was the second Adam, and the new human, who lives as God hoped and dreamed he would live in creation, then this is what I want.  Life as it was meant to be lived. 

If this is what I want, and I don’t read the gospels on a regular basis, how can I put this in a politically correct fashion…I’M AN IDIOT!  And so are you.  Now I recognize that this is not the most pastoral advice you may have ever been given, but I think it’s time to stop beating around the bush here and start doing some serious business.  We talk about wanting to be a community that lives like Jesus, acts like Jesus when we are together, and loves like Jesus when we are apart, but if we are not seriously invested in who this Jesus is and the accounts that we have of His life, then we are fooling ourselves and saying nice things to make each other feel better which quite frankly, I’m not interested in. 

So here’s my proposal, or maybe I’ll just say, here’s what I’m doing to try to get to know Jesus better.  There are four gospels.  There are usually four weeks in a month (save the few that have five weeks.)  One gospel per week, on average about 3-4 chapters per day.  That’s about 15 minutes per day.  It’s a small investment considering what we are trying to accomplish. 

Jesus seemed to have a keen sense of where people were at when he entered a situation.  He seemed to be able to access who needed to be touched, who needed to be healed, who needed to be challenged, and according to His own words, He only did what the Father told Him to do.  He seemed to be tapped into a source of information, that  kept Him in touch with the heart of God the Father, and He was obedient to the promptings He received.  In theology we call this the Holy Spirit and the third person of the Trinity.  The same source that led Jesus, communicated to/with Jesus, and prompted Him from time to time is the same Spirit that Jesus promised the disciples in John 16.  This is the same Spirit alive and active in our hearts and lives, if we have ears to hear and eyes to see. 

My challenge to you is simply this:  Read with me one gospel per week, jump in when you read the blog at the approriate spot (today would be Matthew 9-12.)

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday	Saturday	Sunday
Matthew	1-4	5-8	9-12	13-16	17-20	21-24	25-28
Mark	1-2	3-4	5-6	7-8	9-10	11-12	13-16
Luke	1-4	5-8	9-12	13-16	17-18	19-21	22-24
John	1-3	4-6	7-9	10-12	13-15	16-18	19-21

 Close your time with this simple prayer:  “God, I am available to you today.  I’m available to speak the words of the gospel if you prompt me to do so.  I’m available to love and serve in your name and say nothing if you prompt to do so.  I’m trusting that evangelism starts and ends with you already at work in people’s hearts, and I’m available to You to be a part of that process.  Help me to live like Jesus today.”

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~ by Soulstice Community Church on January 27, 2010.