Written by Pastor Mark Driskill
November 10, 2011

Read Ephesians 4:20

“But that is not the way you learned Christ!”

There is too often a huge gap between the Jesus we met at the beginning and the Jesus we are pursuing now. Our greatest problems begin in the Christ journey when we forget the simple beauty and power of the carpenter from Nazareth. We wander away from the one who healed lepers and rescued widows and follow after another, more complicated and plastic one who seems more like us. The Jesus of the beginning of our faith has all too often morphed into something barely recognizable.

What happened to the Jesus who turned over the tables of the money changers? He was replaced by one who blesses our greed with promises of wealth. What happened to the Jesus who looked deep into the eyes of an adulteress and said, “No man condemns you and neither do I. Go and sin no more.”? He was replaced by someone who hates gays and abortionists. What happened to the Jesus who fed the hungry multitudes? He was replaced by one who pours millions of dollars into Christian entertainment but can’t cough up enough to feed millions who are starving. What happened to the Jesus we met at the beginning? Remember him? What happened to that wonderful counselor, prince of peace, mighty God who found us at our worst and redeemed us from ourselves? Where did he go? We need to get him back, don’t you think?

Paul writes that we must remember the Christ we learned at the beginning. I’m ashamed of the number of times I have needed to go back and rediscover the one I have forgotten. I lose sight of the simple beauty of his love and the awesome power of his name. It gets lost in the haze of my distractions and ambitions. I have to go back and take a look at the cross where he so clearly demonstrated his love. I have to remember that he has never changed his purpose or his passion. Then when I come to him by faith, again, he shows me that he is still the same loving savior as before. He takes me back, dusts off my regrets and starts me walking in the beauty of simple faith again.

Maybe today you realize that you have lost sight of the Jesus you knew at the beginning. Don’t fret. Don’t live another second apart from him. Just turn around and there he will be, just like the first time you met him.

Pastor Mark Driskill
Web Minister of Begotten By the Word web ministry
See our website at http://ourchurch.com/member/b/bbtw
and
www.facebook.com (to group “begotten by the word”)
Begotten By the Word is a ministry of Helping Hands Christian resources-Evangelism Outreach
www.hhcr05.org
(Feel free to copy in any way that will bring glory to God and further his kingdom.)