Swallow your pride, Jesus still wants to be in relationship with you...

I have a friend... well... I had a friend until "the events" happened. The events were really stupid, if you want to know the truth. We were planning on watching an MMA fight together at my house - and split the cost for the rental. He didn't show up.

Then, we planned a golf outing - never happened.

Finally, we planned to watch another MMA fight, and split the cost... and another no show.

I eventually had to walk away from the friendship, but the truth is, he's a good Christian brother. If he ever came by and apologized, I'm sure we could pick up where we left off.

I think this is interesting because our relationship with God is pretty much the same way. We go to church, we read our Bible, we pray... then all of a sudden life gets in the way and we become ashamed and we become afraid to approach God again, so we drift away.

But... God has demonstrated that He is willing to reach out to use if we just swallow our pride.

Look at Peter. When Jesus was going to be crucified, Peter denied knowing Him. 3 times!

What did Jesus do? Jesus approached Peter - here's the dialog:


When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
(John 21:15-19 ESV)

In the end, Jesus wants us to follow Him. Let us struggle to embrace this message in our own lives, and share it with others. After all, we are entering the season when Jesus came down to prepare to be a sacrifice for our sins. Let's share this with those around us.