JUST LIKE JESUS by Max Lucado
Special thanks to Elder Elisha B. Morris,
Director of Christian Education, for making this available
What if, for one day, Jesus were to become you?
What if, for twenty-four hours, Jesus wakes up in your bed, walks in your shoes, livesin your house, assumes your schedule? Your boss becomes his boss, your motherbecomes his mother, your pains become his pains? With one exception, nothing aboutyour life changes. Your health doesn’t change. Your circumstances don’t change. Yourschedule isn’t altered. Your problems aren’t solved. Only one change occurs.
What if, for one day and one night, Jesus lives your life with his heart? Your heart gets the day off, and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities govern your actions. His passions drive your decisions. His love directs your behavior.
What would you be like? Would people notice a change? Your family—would theysee something new? Your coworkers—would they sense a difference? What about theless fortunate? Would you treat them the same? And your friends? Would they detectmore joy? How about your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heartthan from yours?
And you? How would you feel? What alterations would this transplant have on your stress level? Your mood swings? Your temper? Would you sleep better? Would you see sunsets differently? Death differently? Taxes differently? Any chance you’d need fewer aspirin or sedatives? How about your reaction to traffic delays? (Ouch, that touched a nerve.) Would you still dread what you are dreading? Better yet, would you still do what you are doing?
Would you still do what you had planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Pause and think about your schedule. Obligations. Engagements. Outings. Appointments. With Jesus taking over your heart, would anything change?
Keep working on this for a moment. Adjust the lens of your imagination until youhave a clear picture of Jesus leading your life, then snap the shutter and frame the image.What you see is what God wants. He wants you to “think and act like Christ Jesus” (Phil.2:5).
God’s plan for you is nothing short of a new heart. If you were a car, God would wantcontrol of your engine. If you were a computer, God would claim the software and thehard drive. If you were an airplane, he’d take his seat in the cockpit. But you are aperson, so God wants to change your heart.
God’s love never ceases. Never. Though we spurn him. Ignore him. Reject him.Despise him. Disobey him. He will not change. Our evil cannot diminish his love.Our goodness cannot increase it. Our faith does not earn it anymore than our stupidityjeopardizes it. God doesn’t love us less if we fail or more if we succeed. God’s lovenever ceases.
The Heart of Christ
The heart of Jesus was pure. The Savior was adored by thousands, yet content to live asimple life. He was cared for by women (Luke 8:1–3), yet never accused of lustfulthoughts; scorned by his own creation, but willing to forgive them before they evenrequested his mercy. Peter, who traveled with Jesus for three and a half years, describedhim as a “lamb, unblemished and spotless” (1 Pet. 1:19 nasb). After spending the sameamount of time with Jesus, John concluded, “And in him is no sin” (1 John 3:5 niv).
Jesus’ heart was peaceful. The disciples fretted over the need to feed the thousands, but not Jesus. He thanked God for the problem. The disciples shouted for fear in the storm, but not Jesus. He slept through it. Peter drew his sword to fight the soldiers, but not Jesus. He lifted his hand to heal. His heart was at peace. When his discples abandonded him, did he pout and go home? When Peter denied him, did Jesus lose his temper? When th esoldiers spit in his face, did he breathe fire in theirs? Far from it. He was at peace. He forgave them He refused to be guided by vengence.
He also refused to be guided by anything other than his high call. His heart was purposeful. Most lives aim at nothing in particular and achieve it. Jesus aimed at one goal—to save humanity from its sin. He could summarize his life with one sentence:“The Son of man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10 rsv). Jesus was sofocused on his task that he knew when to say, “My time has not yet come” (John 2:4) andwhen to say, “It is finished” (John 19:30). But he was not so focused on his goal that hewas unpleasant.
His heart was spiritual. His thoughts reflected his intimate relationship with the Father. “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” he stated (John 14:11). His first recorded sermon begins with the words, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me” (Luke 4:18 nasb). He was “led by the Spirit” (Matt. 4:1 niv) and “full of the Holy Spirit” (Luke 4:1 niv). He returned from the desert “in the power of theSpirit” (Luke 4:14 niv).
Jesus took his instructions from God. It was his habit to go to worship (Luke 4:16). Itwas his practice to memorize scripture (Luke 4:4). Luke says Jesus “often slipped awayto be alone so he could pray” (Luke 5:16). His times of prayer guided him. He oncereturned from prayer and announced it was time to move to another city (Mark 1:38).Another time of prayer resulted in the selection of the disciples (Luke 6:12–13). Jesuswas led by an unseen hand. “The Son does whatever the Father does” (John 5:19). In thesame chapter he stated, “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told” (John5:30).
Homework for this chapter is listed below. Please be honest, and do the homework by yourself. We will discuss answers in class weekly.
A Heart Like His
Finding the Heart of Jesus
1.What would change in your life if Jesus really did become you?
A. Who would be surprised at the “new you”? Why?
B. Would you have “fences to mend”? If so, to whom do they belong?
2.
Since God wants you to have a heart like his (“a new person, made to be
like God,” says Ephesians 4:23–24), give yourself a checkup:
A. What’s your heart condition today?
B. What would happen during a spiritual “stress test”? Would the results differ,
depending on what was happening in your life from day to day? Explain.
C. What specific actions would you have to take to develop a heart like Jesus’?
3. God wants you to be like him, but he does love you just the way you are.
Describe the “you” that God loves.
A. What are your gifts, talents, abilities, concerns, cares, quirks, faults, needs,
desires?
B. How would any of those be different if you had “a heart like his”? Which
parts of you would be “tweaked”?
4.Jesus’ thoughts, actions, and entire self reflected his intimate relationship
with his father. As a result, his heart was supremely spiritual.
A. Describe a “spiritual heart.”
B. Describe any differences between your heart and that of Christ.
5. As Max points out, we’ve “tapped into” God’s power, but not enough of
us use it to its full extent.
A. Describe your “power usage.” How much of his light do you use at work? At
home? In your community?
B. What can you learn from reflecting on the heart of Christ?
No comments:
Post a Comment