Is Jesus Boring?
What excites you? What brings you immeasurable joy?
No not that. Think deeper. Think of the kind of excitement you would experience at one of those once in a lifetime events. Remember when you got your first car, graduated high school, graduated college, got married, or held your first born child? Yeah… that kind of excitement.
Now that you have some context, think again. What really excites you?
Having a hard time thinking of something aren’t you? There are few things in life that bring such a high level of excitement and joy. Outside of the list above, there are few others that can illicit the same kind of sanguine responses.
As a pastor… no as a Christian, there is nothing that excites me more than to think about the salvation that has been graciously afforded me through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ my Lord and Savior. It is the standard by which all other joys are measured with none surpassing. It doesn’t require much prodding for me to reflect upon the true sense of happiness that accompanies the thought of knowing Christ chose to pay the debt for my sins, saving me from condemnation and hell.
This joy has been expressed by many Christians over the years. Most all of whom can express it much better than I ever could. Here are a couple of my favorite quotes regarding this joy:
Come, Thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing Thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of Thy redeeming love.
(Robert Robinson)It’s because of you, people smile at me and they say, what a lucky guy, It’s because of you, I can raise my hands to the sky, And say I’m only happy because of you.
(Keith Green)Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
(Psalm 95:1)It is an unfortunate thing for the Christian to be melancholy. If there is any man in the world that has a right to have a bright, clear face and a flashing eye, it is the man whose sins are forgiven him, who is saved with God’s salvation.
(Charles Spurgeon)
We just celebrated Easter this past Sunday. Pastor Jason spoke to us about how the power of the gospel is released through the resurrection. The resurrection was the final step in the redemptive process. When the stone at the tomb was rolled away and He stepped out victorious over death, He gave all who worship Him as Lord and Savior that same authority over death and the grave. This is why Easter is our Super-bowl. This is why on Easter, the worship service has a little more energy, the band plays harder and the congregation sings a little louder. This is why Pastor Jason preaches like he just swigged down three Full Throttles in a row.
So Easter is the day it all comes together in a special way, but it’s not the only day we celebrate our salvation. Everyday we wake up and take a breathe, we should give thanks to God for redeeming us and giving us new life.
Christ is real. He is God. He is the creator and sustainer. There is nothing that can defeat Him. He saves all who follow Him from eternal damnation in Hell. He has a watchful eye over His children. He is our everything!
That is why our faith is exciting. That is why we praise Him. That is what brings joy to those who love and serve Him.
Does your faith in Christ excite you? It should. If it doesn’t check your pulse… your spiritual pulse because there is nothing more exciting than knowing you were destined for the darkness of depravity but brought into the light of salvation.
So, get excited about your faith. Jesus is definitely not boring. Tell everyone you know about Him. Serve and worship our Lord with all your heart.
Comments
This is a great post, Heath. We should really be checking our pulse continually. We are an “Easter” people, which is to say that 365 days a year should be characterized by the pursuit of the Life of Christ that is granted to us in such rich measure. We pursue so many things that drain us, rather than the one thing that fulfills and energizes us.
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