Monday, June 22, 2009
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It's a special thrill for a follower of Jesus Christ to be able to walk where Jesus walked. That's why, for many of us, a visit to the Holy Land is a special memory or a special dream. Years ago, one of America's premier preachers - his name was Dr. Robert G. Lee - paid his first visit to Israel. Every place was special, but when his tour group went to Golgotha, the place where many believe Jesus was crucified, he couldn't contain himself. He suddenly started running ahead of the group to get there. The guide had to run to catch up with him, and he asked him breathlessly, "Sir, have you been here before?" Dr. Lee paused and then he answered, "Yes, I have been here before. Almost 2,000 years ago."
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Deeply Personal."Dr. Lee wasn't talking about some time-travel experience he'd had. He was talking about his deep feeling that when Jesus was dying on that cross, he was totally identifying with what Jesus was doing there. It was his sin Jesus was paying the price for there. The great painter, Rembrandt, must have had that same sense when he painted his rendition of Christ's crucifixion. When his friends pointed out that a man in the crowd there looked like Rembrandt, he replied, "Well, that is me."
Once a person comes to understand what Jesus was really doing on that cross, His death becomes a deeply personal event and a totally transforming event. It's what the great Apostle Paul was describing in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. He says, "The life I live...I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
There are many people who wear a cross or who know all about the cross who have never been to the cross. In other words, they have never, in their heart, made their way to Jesus' cross and said, "For me. What He did there is to pay for every sin I've ever committed, for every wrong thing I've ever done." It's at that point that you realize Jesus is your only hope of being clean, being forgiven, of ever having a relationship with God, your only hope of going to heaven someday. And you surrender yourself to this Son of God who gave His life for you.
I wonder if there's ever been a time like that for you; when you move beyond Jesus' brutal death as being just a historical event, or just a religious event, commemorated by some religious observance - when Jesus' sacrifice on that cross becomes for you a deeply personal "for me" event. Our churches are filled with people who know about the cross, who appreciate what Jesus did there, but who have missed the only thing that will change your eternal address from hell to heaven; that personal transaction at the cross where you make the Savior your Savior. "For me, Jesus...it's for me."
If there's never been a time when you actually gave yourself completely to Jesus as your only hope, don't wait another day to get that settled. Your soul is at stake. Your eternity is at stake. Right where you are, tell Jesus that you are putting you are putting your total trust in Him to forgive every sin, and to change your life, and to take you to His heaven someday. If you want to begin that relationship with Him you might just say these words: "Jesus, I'm yours because you died for me, and you're alive today. I'm yours." It may very well be that your journey has led you to this day as the day you begin your relationship with Jesus Christ and move from having Him in your head to having Him in your heart.
Let me encourage you to check out our website, because I think you'll find there what many have found there; some information that will help you know that you've begun this relationship and that you belong to Jesus Christ. Let me give you the web address. It's YoursForLife.net. I hope you'll go there as soon as you can. It's your Jesus-day.