Trust Jesus. It’s Time.(Post 5 of 5)

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When
I was 8 years old, I knew enough to know that someday I would “get saved.” At
the time, I didn’t know how to get saved, but I knew it involved Jesus and sacrifice.
Sacrifice of time, at least. But getting saved was for later, because it was
summer time and I had better things to do. 3^rd grade was coming fast.

Of
course, 3^rd grade came and left. Then 4^th grade. Then 5^th.
And, before I knew it, I found myself in high school with no intention to learn
about Jesus. It wasn’t a priority and it would’ve never happened if God
hadn't worked out the situations in my life so that I landed square in the face of
the gospel and the decision to “get saved.”

This post offers a deeper look at Life Pursuit 4 in The Most Important Life Pursuits. Life Pursuit 4 is: Don’t
delay to trust Jesus as Savior. We’ve
detailed the other 3 life pursuits already. This is the final post in this
series, and I write it to those who don’t yet know Jesus, and to those who do,
because we Christians sometimes waiver in our trust.

I know Jesus.

When I truly understood what Jesus did for me, I trusted Him as my
Savior. I was once destined for Hell, and now I am on my way to Heaven. That’s
why I call Jesus my Savior. This was 8 ½ years after I said to myself, I would
get saved later when I had nothing better to do. You see, at the time, I had no
idea that there is nothing better to do than to get to know Jesus. He is the
best gift ever offered to anyone, and I chose to enjoy my toys, my bike, and my
free time instead.

I might still be postponing my meeting with Jesus if God didn’t connect
me with friends who eventually ended up in church. Before long, the friend who drove us to high school was also the friend who drove us to church. And
I finally met Jesus in a high school youth group meeting. God made this happen. If He hadn't, I may have missed out on the best gift ever. This is a FOMO that truly matters.

What is God working out in your life? What situations make up your days and what comes to mind when you look back? How is God reaching into those situations to come alongside
you? What friendships and connections seem to be moving you in the direction of
meeting Jesus? These are not just coincidences. These are coincidences designed
by God because He wants you to know Jesus. You may feel like He doesn’t care
about you, but it’s because you haven’t really met Him. Jesus is waiting. Don’t
let this moment pass without spilling your heart to Him. He died for all of us,
not just nice people. He paid our penalty when He was crucified, but now He
lives. He rose from His grave and He’s preparing our forever homes in Heaven.
He wants us to be there with Him.

You may feel like Jesus doesn't care about you,
but it's because you haven't really met Him.
Jesus is waiting.

***

Maybe you’re hearing about Jesus for the first time. Maybe not. Either
way, what He did for us is simple and logical and it’s because of His great
love for us. Here is the good news about Jesus in a nutshell:

1.     None of us are righteous and we fall short of God’s standard (Romans3:32)

2.
Our sin, including our sinfulness, is punishable by
death (Romans 6:23)

3.
God’s Son Jesus satisfied the penalty of our sins
by giving His life (Romans 5:8)

4.
Jesus rose from His grave and defeated death (John11:25)

5.     Jesus is Lord of all and Lord of our lives (Romans 14:8-9)

Take time to think about each of these 5 truths. Do it now because we
don’t know what tomorrow or even the next hour will bring. None of these truths
require us to earn our place in Heaven. None of them. Eternal life with Jesus
is an entirely free gift. Trust Him as your Savior today.

For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son,
that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through him.

John 3:16-17

Jesus’ story may be new for some, but it never gets old for those who
know Him. When we read or consider His story, we rejoice with gratitude and
praise. But I’ll be the first to admit that trusting Him every step of the way
is hard to do. My heart is fickle. I’m writing now to those who already know
Jesus. This post is about trusting Jesus for salvation, but salvation is just
the beginning of the story. If we have truly trusted Jesus as Savior, we should naturally trust Jesus as we continue through life.

Jesus' story may be new for some,
but it never gets old for those who know Him.

***

Do we believe that Jesus is the Son of God and He lived a sinless life
in human flesh on earth? Do we believe that Jesus took our place on the cross and that He sacrificed His life as payment for the penalty of our sins? Do we
believe that Jesus rose from His grave and that death has no power over Him? Do we
believe that Jesus is coming back for us when the time is just right?

We do believe these glorious truths that speak volumes about God’s care,
awareness, sovereignty, authority, faithfulness, and more. So why do we stop
trusting sometimes when the more mundane issues of life or allurement knock on
our heart's door? Why do we lose sight of God’s promises or presence? Is it
because trusting Him in life means we let go of what we want to control or enjoy?
Is it because trusting God for something good is far easier than trusting Him
to take those steps into uncertainty or pain, humility or shame?

Doesn’t the God of life and deliverance know about our everyday trials
and temptations?

I will let God speak for Himself on this matter:

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

¹You have
searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
²You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

⁷Where
can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
¹²even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

¹³For you
created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
¹⁴I praise you because I am fearfully and
wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
¹⁵My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place,
when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
¹⁶Your eyes saw my unformed body;
all the days ordained for me were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
¹⁷How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
¹⁸Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.

¹⁹If only
you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
²⁰They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
²¹Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
²²I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
²³Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
²⁴See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

God knows us – everything there is to know about us.

He knows about everything I experience and even think in my mind, but I
sometimes withdraw my trust. I often fail Jesus, the Lord of all and Lord of my
life. With God’s renewed mercy each morning, I am learning to trust Him more
(Lamentations 3:19-24).

Trust Him with me, for salvation and for all the issues of life.

Jeremiah 17:7-8

⁷”But
blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord
whose confidence is in him.
⁸They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”