So today I thought I would "be deliberate" in my Bible reading -- as in Phil Joel's "deliberatePeople" website/idea. It's just basically choosing a "standout verse" in your daily reading and journaling about it. He has a specific reading plan that I followed for a couple of years, but this year I'm more or less "meandering" through the Bible, mostly the New Testament. (Does it make me a bad Christian if I admit that I find most of the Old Testament depressing? It's important stuff, of course, and you can't just say, "Oh, I'm all about the New Testament, the Old is passe," or whatever. But sometimes I just can't read it day after day, especially in, like, the book of Judges or Kings. I do, however, absolutely LOVE Isaiah.)
Anyway, so I read Luke 9:1-17. In this passage Jesus empowers his disciples and sends them out to preach and heal, and also there is the miracle of the loaves and fishes. Of course, there is a ton one could write about these two stories, but what struck me today was that Jesus didn't just want the gospel preached -- he also cared about the people's physical needs.
So I have a couple of standout verses: v. 2: "... He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick." And also v. 13: "You give them something to eat."
Jesus easily could have just sent the disciples to do nothing but preach. And He could also have just sent the crowd home to eat. The Bible doesn't mention whether Jesus resumed preaching after they all ate, or whether they ate and went home. So I can't say for sure whether He wanted them fed so they could listen some more, or simply because He had too much compassion on them to let them continue to be hungry. However, based on what I've read in the Bible and what I personally know about Jesus, I imagine He just didn't want them going hungry that evening.
I love all this, and I think it says a lot about the God we serve. He definitely cares about our souls more than anything else. But He also knows we are human beings living in the here and now, and that we have physical needs in our lives that need to be met. I have often heard ministries that feed people, that go into communities and help the poor, heal the sick, etc., say that you have to meet the physical needs of the people before you can set about meeting their spiritual needs. It only makes sense -- hungry people, sick people can't concentrate much on the "esoteric" stuff until they are filled and healed (or at least in a more comfortable place physically speaking).
But I think that, even beyond the sort-of "ulterior motive" of helping people so they can enter the Kingdom (which is, of course, the most important thing), Jesus just loves to help people. He loves to reach into our worlds, into our hurt, and show us His love and compassion. He loves to wrap His arms around us and love on us! From experience I know He doesn't always choose to heal or to lift us up out of our circumstances, choosing rather to carry us through the difficult times instead of just making them go away. Personally, I would rather He always just took the tough stuff away before I had to endure much of it. It takes a lot of struggle sometimes to get to the place where, by faith, I accept that He's doing something I don't understand and then relax and let Him do His stuff. That's when He really shows that the spiritual is more important than the physical. But I'm glad there are all those times in Scripture where He shows us that He cares about the physical aspects of our lives, too. I'm glad He's a God whose love is so all-encompassing, who is all about compassion, and who never wants to just leave us where we are to get by on our own. That's when it's so obvious that God is our "Abba" (daddy), that Jesus is our brother, that the Holy Spirit is our comforter.
Yeah. I like that.
So, on another note, I have discovered the most hilarious, true, often uplifting and always interesting blog called "Stuff Christians Like." You should check it out. It is SO us!
Blessings for a beautiful day!
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jesus. Show all posts
Friday, June 18, 2010
Monday, February 16, 2009
Jesus' Apartment
Well, my post yesterday was so gloomy that I thought I'd spare you that again and go back into the "archives" to bring you something much more upbeat. So here's a little something I wrote back in 2001. I don't remember exactly what brought it about -- maybe I was just thinking about what things would be like if Jesus were walking around physically on earth today. But, anyway, it's an image I like. I hope you will, too!
Jesus' Apartment
copyright 2001 by Stacy Aannestad, all rights reserved
If Jesus was bodily on earth today, I think I know what his place would be like:
First of all, as Jesus’ friends, we’d have to all chip in and rent Him a place, because He wouldn’t be worried about where to stay at night. We would worry about Him, though, so we’d get him some little loft somewhere, probably just a one-room job with the kitchen, living room and bedroom all together (like an efficiency). I picture it with uncovered brick walls, smack in the middle of downtown. You could see the fire escape outside his living room window. He would have kids’ drawings all over the place from all the children who love Him so – they’re always giving Him stuff they’ve made. His rickety bicycle would be propped against a wall, and there would be a bowl of cat food near the door to feed the strays He so often takes in. There wouldn’t be much furniture, just what we’d brought in from garage sales, etc., because we were tired of having to sit on the hard floor all the time, and, besides, Jesus ought to have a proper bed! His dishes wouldn’t match, his ‘fridge would be old, and he wouldn’t have an electric dishwasher.
But all that wouldn’t matter to Him at all, and it wouldn’t really matter that much to us, either, after awhile. Jesus is so warm and caring that when we go over to visit, we don’t see the sparse, shabby furnishings and the crack in the wall, and one of us usually winds up doing His dishes for Him because He’s too busy helping people to notice they’ve stacked up.
So, this morning I went over to see Jesus, just to say hi. He greeted me at the door in scruffy, worn bluejeans and a slightly faded blue plaid shirt. His hair was a bit disheveled and He seemed tired, but He looked so happy to see me, as if I were the exact person He’d been hoping would walk through His door! He explained as He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and smoothed his beard that He’d been up with a troubled friend half the night. He asked if I’d had breakfast yet, and I said no, so He went to the fridge to see what there was. He looked a little sheepish as He offered me a choice between a can of tunafish and leftover pizza – that was all He had at the moment. I laughed and said the pizza would be great. I knew from experience that Jesus gets so busy helping people that He sometimes forgets to eat. But, in all honesty, cold pizza with Jesus is better than a sumptuous breakfast at the finest restaurant anywhere. He asked me what I’d been up to lately, and I filled Him in. He really listens. His eyes just bore right into you with this most incredible kind of love! I noticed that His dishes were stacking up again, so I offered to help Him with them. After that He showed me some of the things His kid friends had made Him recently. Some of them were pretty awful, artistically speaking, but Jesus displayed them as if they were the greatest works of art straight out of the Louvre. In the middle of His old, scratched Formica dining table I noticed an orange juice can with some mangy-looking dandelion blooms drooping over the edge. He saw me looking at them, and with the biggest smile told me about the little girl who had brought them to Him yesterday on her way to school. She had picked them from her front yard. She thought Jesus would like yellow flowers because they were so sunny looking.
I really enjoyed my visit with Jesus this morning. He made me feel so important, even when I was just chatting away about little stuff. Tomorrow we’re going to go for a walk in the park. It’s always an experience to walk with Jesus – He points out the neatest things you’d never notice otherwise, and He likes to tell how His Father and He got the ideas for creating them.
And, if I know Jesus like I think I do, we’ll probably wind up helping someone in need, and inviting at least a few people over to His place for lunch. He always manages to scrape something up. Served with His kind of love, any food is the best food around.
Grace & peace!
Stacy
Jesus' Apartment
copyright 2001 by Stacy Aannestad, all rights reserved
If Jesus was bodily on earth today, I think I know what his place would be like:
First of all, as Jesus’ friends, we’d have to all chip in and rent Him a place, because He wouldn’t be worried about where to stay at night. We would worry about Him, though, so we’d get him some little loft somewhere, probably just a one-room job with the kitchen, living room and bedroom all together (like an efficiency). I picture it with uncovered brick walls, smack in the middle of downtown. You could see the fire escape outside his living room window. He would have kids’ drawings all over the place from all the children who love Him so – they’re always giving Him stuff they’ve made. His rickety bicycle would be propped against a wall, and there would be a bowl of cat food near the door to feed the strays He so often takes in. There wouldn’t be much furniture, just what we’d brought in from garage sales, etc., because we were tired of having to sit on the hard floor all the time, and, besides, Jesus ought to have a proper bed! His dishes wouldn’t match, his ‘fridge would be old, and he wouldn’t have an electric dishwasher.
But all that wouldn’t matter to Him at all, and it wouldn’t really matter that much to us, either, after awhile. Jesus is so warm and caring that when we go over to visit, we don’t see the sparse, shabby furnishings and the crack in the wall, and one of us usually winds up doing His dishes for Him because He’s too busy helping people to notice they’ve stacked up.
So, this morning I went over to see Jesus, just to say hi. He greeted me at the door in scruffy, worn bluejeans and a slightly faded blue plaid shirt. His hair was a bit disheveled and He seemed tired, but He looked so happy to see me, as if I were the exact person He’d been hoping would walk through His door! He explained as He pulled his hair back into a ponytail and smoothed his beard that He’d been up with a troubled friend half the night. He asked if I’d had breakfast yet, and I said no, so He went to the fridge to see what there was. He looked a little sheepish as He offered me a choice between a can of tunafish and leftover pizza – that was all He had at the moment. I laughed and said the pizza would be great. I knew from experience that Jesus gets so busy helping people that He sometimes forgets to eat. But, in all honesty, cold pizza with Jesus is better than a sumptuous breakfast at the finest restaurant anywhere. He asked me what I’d been up to lately, and I filled Him in. He really listens. His eyes just bore right into you with this most incredible kind of love! I noticed that His dishes were stacking up again, so I offered to help Him with them. After that He showed me some of the things His kid friends had made Him recently. Some of them were pretty awful, artistically speaking, but Jesus displayed them as if they were the greatest works of art straight out of the Louvre. In the middle of His old, scratched Formica dining table I noticed an orange juice can with some mangy-looking dandelion blooms drooping over the edge. He saw me looking at them, and with the biggest smile told me about the little girl who had brought them to Him yesterday on her way to school. She had picked them from her front yard. She thought Jesus would like yellow flowers because they were so sunny looking.
I really enjoyed my visit with Jesus this morning. He made me feel so important, even when I was just chatting away about little stuff. Tomorrow we’re going to go for a walk in the park. It’s always an experience to walk with Jesus – He points out the neatest things you’d never notice otherwise, and He likes to tell how His Father and He got the ideas for creating them.
And, if I know Jesus like I think I do, we’ll probably wind up helping someone in need, and inviting at least a few people over to His place for lunch. He always manages to scrape something up. Served with His kind of love, any food is the best food around.Grace & peace!
Stacy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)