One of my favorite Scriptures in the New Testament is in Luke, chapter 24. Two followers of Jesus are leaving Jerusalem on what we now call Easter Sunday. Of course, these two travelers did not consider that day a happy Easter day. For all they knew, the person whom they had been following was dead and gone. They did not understand who Jesus really was. They only knew the Jesus that they wanted him to be. This is a big deal. Verse 21 of that chapter records these travelers as saying,"But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel." In other words, Jesus was not the Jesus that they had hoped that He would be, that THEY wanted Him to be. Of course they were followers of Jesus and understood that he was "mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." (vs19) That was the Jesus they wanted Him to be. Then they wanted Him to redeem Israel.
Some days Jesus is exactly what we want Him to be. We are blessed with abundant life, just as He promised. We have a good job, a good family, a few good friends, and a good lifestyle. But what about the days that Jesus is not what we want Him to be? What about those days when we just cannot understand what Jesus is up to in our lives? What about cancer, divorce, financial, career, or family issues? Are we like those first century followers? Are we disapppointed?
Or is that the time when we really trust Jesus, not to be who we want Him to be, but to be who He really is? That is when we truly say "It's all about HIM!"
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