Good Friday is the most solemn day of the year. It is the day we remember the crucifixion of Jesus. While the event was necessary to prove the power of Christ over death and ultimately resulted in His resurrection, there is still no more ominous moment in history. Never before, never since, and never again will such a tragedy occur. We remember this day because the very creation of God, acting in the freewill given to them by their Creator, nailed His Son to a cross and watched Him die. Jesus willingly allowed them to take His life from Him so that He might be the salvation of us all.
mission
Ready to Succeed
Everyone wants to succeed. I’ve yet to run into an exception to that statement. Our definition of success may vary, but at the end of the day, we all want to feel we’ve been successful in our endeavors. Above all else, followers of Jesus want to succeed in following in His footsteps. Success for us means we have been obedient to Him, have loved and served others well, and have glorified Him with our thoughts, words, and actions. But many feel as if they aren’t succeeding in their walk with Christ. They wonder how they might do better, or what they could change in order to succeed. Successfully following Jesus isn’t about trying harder, but rather simply being obedient.
The Best or Nothing
I recently saw a television commercial for Mercedes Benz automobiles which featured their slogan, “The best or nothing”. It made me think how fitting this saying would be for all who aspire to follow Jesus. No matter what we do, we should always give Him our best. That means no matter how tired we are, how inconvenient the circumstances might be, or how grueling the task, we will always give our best. If Jesus doesn’t deserve your very best on His behalf, then nobody does. As ambassadors of Christ we are commissioned to always be on mission and on target. Our focus must never wane.
Lord of All?
When people hang around you, do they sense something different? More precisely, and far more importantly, do they see Jesus emanating from you? We should be walking so closely with Jesus that we cannot help but radiate His love and presence in every aspect of our lives. No matter what we are doing or who we may happen to be with, if Jesus isn’t on display through our words and actions, then we haven’t yet fully surrendered our lives to Him. We can’t compartmentalize our activities into the ones we give to God, and the ones over which we keep control. God loves us too much for that. He only wants the absolute best for every one of us. And He knows the best choice in any situation or circumstance will always be Jesus.
Impact Your World
How can I serve God best today? It’s a question each of us should ask at the beginning of each day. The way we frame our days determines how we live our lives. If we wait for life to just happen to us, we will constantly be in a reactionary mode, and this is not the optimal way to live. Reacting results in circumstances dictating our own actions. A better way to live is to proactively and intentionally influence what circumstances will actually occur in our life. Remember the old saying that the best defense is a good offense? That sports analogy works well in life. We want to make our lives happen rather than wait for things to happen to us. As followers of Jesus, the absolute best way we can do this is to determine ahead of time how we will impact our world for Christ each day.