Being With Jesus

More than anything, we were created for an intimate relationship with God. Now there are certainly other things that will please God and bring glory to him through our lives, but nothing is more honoring to the Creator than to walk in a close, personal and loving relationship with him.

According to the Bible, the only way that gets expressed is by knowing Jesus: by being in an all-consuming, life-altering journey that comes from persistently hanging out with Jesus as his devotee. In fact, the Apostle John, the one who knew and loved Jesus as much as any human being ever, said this was, in itself, eternal life.

Acts 4:13 shows us the inevitable outcome of being in that kind of intimate, persistent, loving relationship: “When the Jewish council saw Peter and John’s courage and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Peter and John had simply “been with Jesus” until they looked and acted increasingly like him—they had assumed his mindset, absorbed his characteristics and expressed his behavior. They had hung out so closely in such an intense way with Jesus that they had absorbed him to the point of now exuding him without even thinking about it. They had not only been transformed through their relationship, they had been conformed to that relationship! They had been changed by Christ.  But changed into what?  Into “little Christs”!

That is what you and I were created to experience: A relationship with Jesus whereby his life gets transmitted to us, and through us, so that we begin to transmit the infectious DNA of Jesus Christ.

You may not have a religious pedigree or be well-versed in theology. You may not be naturally winsome, or articulate, or even all that likeable. Your “cool factor” may be pretty much non-existent. Maybe you lack more than you have. That doesn’t matter! What you do have trumps all you don’t have: You have every possibility that Peter and John had to “be with Jesus”.

That is the greatest goal you can have—that at the end of the day, the only thing people can do with you is to take note that you have been with Jesus. They may not like you or be impressed with you and they may wish you would just go away. But when it is all said and done, all they can do with you is to admit, “obviously, you have been hanging with Jesus!”

Make that your goal today. And then start hanging with Jesus. Pure and simple—that is eternal life!

You were made for that! The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 8:29, “From the beginning God decided that those who came to Him should become like His Son.” That is God’s inexorable plan: to make you like Jesus! He is orchestrating everything in your life right now for that purpose—circumstances, disappointments, temptations, opportunities, blessings. At this very moment, God is leveraging heaven’s resources to conform your character to Christ’s. That ought to give you confidence. As A.W. Tozer noted, “When I understand that everything happening to me is to make me more Christlike, it resolves a great deal of anxiety.”

So your journey into Christlikeness is not all up to you! God is rearranging heaven and moving earth to give you opportunity to be with Jesus—and to become like Jesus.

Yet divine transformation needs human collaboration. In a way, being with Jesus is on you! It is not just a mindset or a good intention. It is an intentional posture. As much as anything, to get intentional with your growth toward Christlikeness will require of you the daily practice of being with Jesus.

Divine transformation requires human collaboration!

I would simply suggest that each day—and throughout the day—you literally invite Jesus to join you in what is in front of you. Literally ask Jesus, “How would you handle this situation? What do you think about this opportunity? What should I do about this challenge? How would you respond to this person?” Just practice being with Jesus in the ordinary moments of your daily life.

To get practical with this, think about it this way: If you were to literally spend time with Jesus, what three attributes, attitudes and or actions would you witness in him?

For me, when I think of what Jesus would be doing in any of his ordinary days, one, he would be unbendingly truthful yet incredibly gracious with people; two, he would serve people—especially those we would consider the least worthy of his service; and three, even when he was treated unfairly, he would never retaliate; he would only offer love and grace in return.

Gracious, serving, forgiving—there are thousands of descriptives I could come up with—you too. So take a moment and write down the first three qualities of Jesus that come to your mind. Then your assignment this week will be to intentionally hang out with Jesus, consciously and consistently doing those three things you believe Jesus would do. Give that your best shot, and most likely, you will look a little more like Christ by this time next week!

And maybe people will take note that you have been with Jesus.

“‘Putting on Christ’…is not one among many jobs a Christian has to do; and it is not a sort of special exercise for the top class. It is the whole of Christianity. Christianity offers nothing else at all.” (C.S. Lewis)

Getting To Know Jesus: There are some spiritual disciplines that are obvious and essential to being with and becoming like Jesus: Consistent quiet times, Bible reading, Scripture memory, prayer, church attend-ance. I can’t encourage you enough to commit to those spiritual routines! One of the things I will be doing in 2015—and I would like to invite you to join me—is to read through the writings of the Apostle John, the one who knew and loved Jesus as much as anyone. So start with me on January 1 in the Gospel of John, and let the journey toward Christlikeness begin. Here is the link to the Bible reading plan I will be using. Enjoy the journey!