Jesus-up close and personal

© 2012 Julie Crane All rights reserved

This passage in today's devotional caught my eye, or maybe I should say my breath:

He can ...grant to those who seek it, the power to subdue their selfish desires and passions

I had to pause and think about that.
But it was the ending that shifted my attention:

Those who continue to seek for purpose and meaning along other corridors of this temporal existence may ultimately find the door to eternal joy and abundance closed shut.

O God, I never want to lose sight of You. I want to lean into You forever. May my connection with You grow stronger. My thoughts, my choices - may I consider You. In my haste I forget to seek Your counsel. In the moment, it looks right, even IS right - but I trusted my own wisdom and counted it as enough.

Should not every questioning thought we have, great or small, begin with - Jesus?

If we would but add that one single word, that Name, to preface our every choice today ...

• Can I afford to buy a few extra groceries this week for the food pantry?
• Can I find the right words to write that long overdue note?
• Should I eat that last piece of cake and just enjoy it?
• Is it okay to say no, stay home, and just relax?
• Should I try to make it to the gym this morning?
• What should I make for supper?

Did you answer those questions easily, quickly, in your mind as you read them? How often do we think the answer is obvious? "I don't need to know what Jesus thinks; what God might have planned..." Or maybe the question is too insignificant to "bother" the Creator with.

How would adding the name of Jesus influence your decisions?

God came down to rescue us, to help us. To infiltrate every aspect of our lives - in love. To bring a joy the world cannot give. And He wants all of you. Not just a specified prayer time, quiet time - then off you go to face the day.

God is ever-present for you.
Will you be ever-present to Him?

Jesus, should I really post this - our conversation?
Jesus, don't you think my examples are lame?
Jesus, is the closing question too direct?
And, Jesus, what's for breakfast?


(the devotional I've been referencing is called Jesus Now by Leslie Brandt)