Pursuing Jesus

When we look at the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 we don't see the story of some strange god coming out of the blue saying, "I'm bigger than you so you better do what I say - or else!" Instead, we see a God who has just delivered Israel from slavery. They know who he is. They know he is looking out for their good.

The Christian life isn't something we do just on Sunday mornings - or Wednesday nights - or when we're at church. The life of a disciple of Jesus is 24/7.

Why do we pursue the life of faith in Jesus? We get some clues from John 14:1-14.

We forgive because we have been forgiven.

Baptism seems such a strange thing. First, the public application of water, whether by sprinkling, pouring, or dunking, is odd. Second, attaching ourselves to a crucified criminal from long ago also seems odd. So why do we baptize?

If Christians know any of the prophecies of the birth of Jesus, we know Isaiah 7:14. Read in context, however, this sign was clearly offered as a sign to King Ahaz and his generation - more than 700 years before Jesus. How can we take this as a prophecy with dual fulfillment?

In Zechariah's prophetic song on the occasion of the birth of his son John (the Baptist), we see that our hope is not merely individual, but a fulfillment of God's promises to Israel.

In Proverbs we read, "Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it." We infer that this is a guarantee: if we do the right things as parents, our children will necessarily turn out right. Two problems with this: First, our experience. We train our children in the right way - but they DO depart from it. Second, we look at God. In Isa. 1:2-3 God, the perfect Father, laments how his children have gone astray. Taking this verse as wisdom literature helps us. We get clear guidance from Deut. 6:4ff.

In Colossians 3:15-17 we see Paul emphasizing that we should practice giving thanks. The rest of the chapter shows us how we can become that kind of people. Along the way we see also how to be rightfully discontent with the brokenness we experience in the world.

We tend to make one of two mistakes in our approach to dealing with sin. We either get legalistic about it or excuse it. Both trivialize the death-dealing power of sin. Through Jesus, we can find forgiveness and grace. When we recognize ourselves as sinners and receive his grace, we can pass it on to others around us.