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Following Jesus is like a GIFT !
For me, following Jesus is like receiving a gift. The person who gives you the gift assures you that it will be the best gift you will ever receive; therefore you expect it to be just that.
Do you remember the best gift you ever received? I do. When I was in the sixth grade my two friends, Meghan and Elizabeth, received lap tops for Christmas. When I saw this I wanted one so bad. But, my parents told me that I had to work hard and save my babysitting money in order to pay for half of a laptop, and they would pay for the other half. I worked so hard that year to save money to pay for half of it.
On Christmas morning I was so happy to go down stairs and
open my presents. Finally, the day I have worked hard for had finally come. The reason I
loved my laptop so much was because I had to work hard for it.
If I would have just been given the laptop, I would not have loved or appreciated it as
much.
This goes the same way with our relationship with Jesus.
Often we take our relationship with Jesus for granted -- too
often only going to Jesus when we are having our bad days are when things are difficult
with us. But as it is required to maintain our relationships with our friends,
we must also spend time with Jesus, not just on our bad days, but on our best days.
Jesus is always there for us --- calling us by name, but
too often we get wrapped up in the busyness of life with school, our jobs, the house,
sports and endless other things that pre-occupy us.
We should work on our relationship with Jesus, everyday. Sure we receive the gift of heaven with Him when we call Jesus our Lord and Savior --------- but the gift of having Jesus is our life everyday is the best gift we can have now!
Jesus promised us that if we follow him and devote our lives to him, we will receive this gift. In the scripture my sister just read, Martha was upset because Mary devoted her time with Jesus, serving him and listening to what he had to say. Martha on the other hand, was preoccupied with getting everything physically presentable for Jesus.
But we need to realize that it is not all about our looks, how clean our house is, what kind of car we drive, or any of the other materialistic obsessions people have.
Life is not about stuff!
If we follow Jesus and devote our lives to him, we will be given the ultimate gift, heaven with eternal life.
So what gift would you rather have?