GodReflection: It’s Jesus Friday

It is easy to overlook Jesus.

Well, we aren’t exactly against him, it’s just that we humans work extremely hard to keep him out of first place.

Some simply don’t have room for Jesus within their lifestyle or belief system. Yet there is something else that bothers me.

The ease with which we believers allow ourselves to place the primary focus upon our church tribe. Thus, we leave Jesus in 2^nd place.

Let me explain.

There have been “aha moments” in my life when a holy insight appears. Often these come in a one-sentence form like the leper I heard pray, “God take care of us who don’t know how to read.”

On another occasion, I sat at the bedside of a friend who radiated Jesus. There was a time when he was a household word in homes of my church tribe. This godly old preacher now in his late 80’s, (though sitting on the side of his bed) was dying.

He spoke in prayerful confession with moist eyes and a quivering voice, “I’ve preached for over a half century. My greatest regret is that for the first 20 years I failed to preach Jesus.”

His words described far too many years of my life.

Here is what I thank.

Jesus is perfect. He is sinless. His church is perfect. When I pledged my allegiance to him his grace turned its constant flow over my sin-filled life. That makes me a member of his perfect body and an eternal recipient of his grace.

That is the very message that exalts Jesus to center stage.

Rather than spend energy to collect victory points so that I can prove my tribe is better than your tribe, shouldn’t I instead spend time and effort to keep the stage lights focused on Jesus?

I hope I write in a spirit of confession rather than a spirit of judgment.  I am thankful that God’s grace is rich and deep beyond comprehension.

It is so abundant that He used for His good many of those times when I forgot—it’s Jesus.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on 2nd Place Jesus

Gary@Godreflection.org     www.MakeYourVisionGoViral.com