Traditions

Monday, December 30, 2013

My Heart Will Sing No Other Name

Jesus. No other name has been on my mind more, lately. I’m finally beginning to realize how enough He really is. If everyone else on this earth was gone, and I was all alone…yes, He really would be enough for me.

I’m not expecting there to be anything in this post that blows your mind or rocks your theological beliefs. This post is merely an overflow of what has been on my heart, and that sole thing is Jesus. As 2014 arrives and a new season of your life begins, I pray that Jesus would become ever so real to you…more real than He ever has before. Maybe He is your best friend, someone you occasionally pray to, or someone you know nothing about. Either way, I pray that Jesus would reveal Himself to you this year. Trust me, no one will fulfill your longings the way He can. Despite the uncertainty or fear that may be overwhelming your spirit as this new year approaches just around the corner, Jesus can fill your heart with a joy and a peace that is indescribable. I’ve never had a friend quite like Him, and I know I never will. I’m so grateful He is mine, and that I am His.

What does Jesus mean to me? He’s my everything. I don’t even want to think about what I would be if I did not have Him. Yes, for the past nineteen years of my life, I have learned many things about who Jesus is. If you asked me about this majestic Child born of a virgin, I could tell you all about it. If you asked me about all the miracles He performed on earth, all the sick He healed, the blind He gave sight, and the lame He gave strength, I could tell you all about it. If you asked me about His excruciating suffering, His miserable death, and His victorious resurrection, I could tell you all about it. You name it, I could probably tell you something about this Jesus I have claimed to have known for so many years.

But there are some things you can’t learn about from a Felt board in Sunday school. Despite their devoted hearts to the Lord and their fantastic training, there are things that my teachers at the Christian school I attended for thirteen years could not have taught me. Some things, you just have to find out for yourself. Some things, many things, it just has to be between two people. You and God. The Creator of the universe and His creation. The Potter and the clay. The Artist and His most precious masterpiece. The Lover of Souls and the soul He loves. Just you and Jesus. A relationship that no one can have for you.

What does Jesus mean to me? He is my everything. Did I already say that? Well, it’s worth repeating. He is my Prince. As a young woman who’s beginning to think about far-off things like dating, marriage, hopefully having a family one day, dreaming of the days when I’m sitting on my living room floor playing dress up with my little girls and fighting dragons with my little boys, there are times I long for the day when my earthly prince will show up. “When is he coming?” I think. I pray. But then I remember that whether or not my earthly prince ever came, even if he never came to sweep me off my feet like I’ve dreamt of for as long as I can remember, Jesus would still be good. He would still be faithful. He would still be enough. “I just didn’t want to wait anymore – didn’t want to live like I was waiting on anyone to get here. I already have Him…and He is everything” (http://gracefortheroad.com/2012/02/03/idontwait/)

Jesus has never been more real to me than He has been these past few months. I felt like I already knew Him. I felt like I knew all about His character, how He interacted with people, how much He loved me, etc. And I did know those things; it’s not like everything I’ve learned these past nineteen years has been a lie! I do know Jesus…but now I know Him in a much more personal way.

Remember when I told you about the car ride a few weeks back? How I finally began to really view Jesus as a man who was so close and not so far away? Well, that picture has been getting stronger ever since. I have a face in my head, eyes I can look at, a hand I can touch (not physically, of course). You might be thinking, “well uh, I think you’ve started to lose your mind a little bit.” Oh trust me, I have! When you fall in love with Jesus, your heart, body, mind and soul all go crazy! When you die to yourself and begin to live in the Spirit of Christ, your whole perspective changes…mine certainly has. And now that I am beginning to really understand who Jesus was on earth and who He is today living inside of me, I am realizing that this Guy really is worth pursuing with everything I’ve got.

I’m still learning. Just like any relationship, it takes a lot of time alone with someone to really get to know them. Oh, but it’s so worth it. It’s so worth getting to know the Lover of your soul, the ultimate Counselor, Friend, and Comforter, and the One who is so wanting to know you. Can you imagine that? Jesus wants to know you! C.S. Lewis said that “When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you’d been the only man in the world.” How cool is that!

Don’t wait another moment. Don’t try and make one more excuse. Stop what you’re doing and go spend time having fellowship with the One who so desperately wants to be with His most precious creation.

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