What if Jesus treated us as we treated Him? Would we still be in love with Him? Would we be willing to sacrifice anything, much less everything, to follow someone who treated us as we treat Jesus? Relationships are two way streets, and our relationship with Christ often teeters dangerously close to dysfunctional.
Photo courtesy of Alex Bruda
Ours is a relationship that is heavily one-sided, yet He continues to love us still. Do you ever wonder why?
What if He betrayed us as often as we betray Him? In our times of need, we often cling to Christ as our only hope. We can count on Him to be our strength and to see us through the difficult periods of our life. Can He count on us to always be there for Him? What if when we needed Him most He didn’t show up because He would rather hang out with His other friends? What if He was too tired to be concerned with our problem of the moment? Yet how many times are we too busy or too tired to do the things He told us to do? How many times have you walked by a homeless person because you were on your way somewhere and simply had no time to offer a kind word or a few dollars? Divine moments rarely occur at the most convenient time for us. If in our busyness we fail to seize that moment, it becomes ordinary and no longer divine. We consistently ignore our calling and rationalize the reasons in a myriad of ways. What if Jesus responded to us in the same way?
What if He did evil in our sight on a regular basis? How would our opinion of Him change? Would we still be able to love Him? Every day we fall into sin and do what is evil in His site. We’ll do it today and tomorrow we’ll get up and do it again. In his book, “In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day”, Mark Batterson makes a clear distinction between a mistake and a sin. A mistake is something we do unintentionally such as turning the wrong way down a one way street; a sin is something we do with full intention, even though we know better. Every sin we commit is intentional; we are the ones who choose to rebel against God and do whatever we want to do rather than following His wise and perfect instruction. We do not commit sin by accident. We spit in the face of the one who saved us on purpose. What if Christ treated us in the same manner? He would not be able to be trusted and we would soon turn away from Him for good.
Thankfully Jesus does not treat us as we do Him. If He did our life would be unbearable. Isn’t it time we started doing our part in this relationship? Christ has done the heavy lifting and laid a beautiful groundwork for us. All we have to do is love Him the way that He loves us. We must always be ready to reflect His love and speak His truth to anyone we meet, we must never betray Him. When confronted with the temptation to do evil, we must immediately turn away; the choice is ours. Jesus always chooses on our behalf, how can we be so arrogant to not respond in kind?
Consider all that Jesus has done for you. He is always there, always available, and always on time. He never lets you down and is always there to help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1). He sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24). He always chooses what is right on your behalf. I am so thankful that Jesus does not treat us as we treat Him, and I am ashamed at the way I have treated Him in the past. Today is a new day and we can begin afresh. Let us work diligently to treat Christ the same way He treats us; let us learn to love as He loves.
Question: In what ways are you grateful that Christ does not treat us as we treat Him?