By John Hubble
How’s your walk today?
You know, with our Lord?
Is your walk, your relationship, with Jesus a personal one, or are you on the periphery, looking at the relationship with Christ that others appear to have, but seemingly not you?
Perhaps you find yourself searching, lost, trying to wrap your mind around something (or someone) you can’t quite grasp.
Beliefs you once held dear now wane.
Thinking about Jesus, you go over in your mind those beliefs. You try to hold onto the inexplicable tranquility you once knew when you said yes to Jesus.
You think about Him—what He endured for you. He was beaten so you could be made whole. He was whipped so you could be healed; He was slaughtered so you could be made righteous; and He was raised from death to life so you could have eternal life with Him.
You try your best to re-create the Spirit-filled wave you experienced when you were first drawn to Him, when you knew, accepted, and believed in Him. You know that by the grace of God and His mercy, He permitted Jesus, His son, to suffer for you—for your benefit.
But the wave of inspiration you once knew has faded somehow.
Sure. You go to church and are sometimes moved by the message. You’re stimulated by the rush of an exceptionally Spirit-filled worship. Sometimes you’re inspired by any one of a myriad media offerings or well-intentioned friends instructing you on how you’re supposed to navigate the Christian life you purpose to live.
So often, though, these stimulations and inspirations, these well-intentioned instructions, become fleeting moments of conscious mental exercise quickly lost to the subconsciousness of the human mind. The mental conditioning of secular world influence returns to your consciousness so subtly, you’re often unaware.
It’s mental/spiritual conflict we face, Christian. Paul the Apostle captures it so well. It’s in Romans, Chapter 7, and Ephesians, Chapter 6.
If you put down the magazine, pick up your Bible, and take a read, you’ll find that in these sections of Scripture, Paul, also identifies the answer to resolving this conflict.
So how is your walk, Christian?
Are you walking with Him, or is your conscious mind drifting secular, wondering if Jesus, as you’ve been led to know Him, is there, much less hears you?
Having doubts? You’re not the first, you know. Thomas the Apostle had the same issue. He had difficulty in understanding and believing. I suppose we all have at one time or another.
After the crucifixion, in Thomas’s mind, Jesus was dead—an evident and straightforward secular view. The other disciples told him they had seen Jesus after the fact, but Thomas wasn’t buying it. “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” (John 20:25 NLT)
Jesus provided Thomas the physical evidence needed, but went much further than that. Jesus said to Thomas, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” (John 20:29 NLT).
Did you catch that, Christian? As a believer in Jesus Christ, though you may not have physically seen Him, you are blessed.
You know, we tend to make our relationship with Jesus so difficult.
It need not be.
Try taking a moment to enjoy your personal relationship with Christ. He is your Savior. He is your friend. He is there with you.
Talk with Him. Tell Him how your day’s going. He does hear you, you know.
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