Are You Trying Jesus?
As I drive around every day, I like to read church signs. One sign recently caught my attention. On one side it reads, "TRY JESUS IF U DON'T LIKE HIM." On the other side the message continues, "THE DEVIL WILL ALWAYS TAKE U BACK."
Punctuation would really help in this case but I know from personal experience that the letter kits for these signs usually do not contain enough punctuation. The first time I saw this sign, I saw the second half of the message. "The devil will always take you back." Upon seeing this much of the message, my first thought was, "not a chance." Nothing can take me out of God's hand. There is no way the devil can have me because I belong to Jesus. He will never leave me or forsake me.
Later that same day, I saw the first half of the message. "Try Jesus if you don't like Him." Here's where a good comma would come in handy. However, my first reaction was to the message just as it reads. I thought, "Why would I try Him if I don't like Him?" Then I thought, "Maybe it means to try as in a trial of some kind or as to try the patience of Jesus." That sounds really dangerous to me. I don't think I want to deliberately try the patience of Jesus. I'm sure I do try His patience all the time but I would not want to do it deliberately.
Finally, it occurred to me that the two sides of the sign are both a part of the same message. Then it began to make sense. The sign's message is a clever way of encouraging people to accept Jesus. While I have no criticism of the church or the person who posted the message on the sign, I would like to pose a question to consider. Can you really try Jesus?
I know that the scripture says, "O taste and see that the LORD is good. . ." (Ps. 34:8KJV) However, scripture also records, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. . ." (Matt. 16:24-25NIV) I wonder if, in our attempt to make accepting Jesus as easy as possible, or in our attempt to "sell" Jesus to an indifferent world, have we mislead people into believing in Jesus in order to get to go to Heaven but not in really being His disciple.
Being a disciple of Jesus means that we do more than just believe in Him. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." (James 2:19NIV) A disciple is someone who must deny himself or herself, take up their cross and follow Jesus. Are you a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ? A disciple is someone who does not just give lip service to Jesus as LORD. A "Lord" is someone who has supreme authority in your life. That's why you must deny yourself. Jesus must be "Lord" of your life. Many people mistakenly believe that the cross Jesus says we should bear is some kind of burden. But Jesus said, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:30NIV) No, the cross Jesus says we must bear is "(our) cross." "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20NIV)
Accepting Jesus is a radical thing. If you just superficially "try Jesus," thinking that you can just be a little bit Christian, you will be very suprised on the day of judgment. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matt. 7:21-23NIV) The word translated "knew" there means "to know absolutely." The concept of "knowing" someone in scripture is the idea of knowing that person in the most intimate way. We must know and be known by Jesus in the most personal and intimate way.
Are you trying Jesus? That will not work. You must genuinely accept Him and make Him the LORD of your life by dying to self daily. "The old has gone the new has come." JESUS IS LORD!
Alan L. Thomas <><
Punctuation would really help in this case but I know from personal experience that the letter kits for these signs usually do not contain enough punctuation. The first time I saw this sign, I saw the second half of the message. "The devil will always take you back." Upon seeing this much of the message, my first thought was, "not a chance." Nothing can take me out of God's hand. There is no way the devil can have me because I belong to Jesus. He will never leave me or forsake me.
Later that same day, I saw the first half of the message. "Try Jesus if you don't like Him." Here's where a good comma would come in handy. However, my first reaction was to the message just as it reads. I thought, "Why would I try Him if I don't like Him?" Then I thought, "Maybe it means to try as in a trial of some kind or as to try the patience of Jesus." That sounds really dangerous to me. I don't think I want to deliberately try the patience of Jesus. I'm sure I do try His patience all the time but I would not want to do it deliberately.
Finally, it occurred to me that the two sides of the sign are both a part of the same message. Then it began to make sense. The sign's message is a clever way of encouraging people to accept Jesus. While I have no criticism of the church or the person who posted the message on the sign, I would like to pose a question to consider. Can you really try Jesus?
I know that the scripture says, "O taste and see that the LORD is good. . ." (Ps. 34:8KJV) However, scripture also records, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. . ." (Matt. 16:24-25NIV) I wonder if, in our attempt to make accepting Jesus as easy as possible, or in our attempt to "sell" Jesus to an indifferent world, have we mislead people into believing in Jesus in order to get to go to Heaven but not in really being His disciple.
Being a disciple of Jesus means that we do more than just believe in Him. "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that - and shudder." (James 2:19NIV) A disciple is someone who must deny himself or herself, take up their cross and follow Jesus. Are you a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ? A disciple is someone who does not just give lip service to Jesus as LORD. A "Lord" is someone who has supreme authority in your life. That's why you must deny yourself. Jesus must be "Lord" of your life. Many people mistakenly believe that the cross Jesus says we should bear is some kind of burden. But Jesus said, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt. 11:30NIV) No, the cross Jesus says we must bear is "(our) cross." "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal. 2:20NIV)
Accepting Jesus is a radical thing. If you just superficially "try Jesus," thinking that you can just be a little bit Christian, you will be very suprised on the day of judgment. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matt. 7:21-23NIV) The word translated "knew" there means "to know absolutely." The concept of "knowing" someone in scripture is the idea of knowing that person in the most intimate way. We must know and be known by Jesus in the most personal and intimate way.
Are you trying Jesus? That will not work. You must genuinely accept Him and make Him the LORD of your life by dying to self daily. "The old has gone the new has come." JESUS IS LORD!
Alan L. Thomas <><
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