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Easter night, millions of Americans tuned into Jesus. Like they did two years ago with "The Bible" miniseries on cable TV.
This time "A.D. - The Bible Continues" is on a major network. I was one of those millions watching on Easter. Plunged into the world-changing events of that first Good Friday and Easter.
I couldn't help but connect it to a touching Facebook post I saw on Good Friday. About a bookstore visit a dear Native American friend had with her young grandson - who she calls "Handsome."
Handsome spotted a painting that really got his attention. It was Jesus nailed to the cross. He went straight to it and said "with passion" in his voice: "Gramma look! Can we buy it? It's the last one. If we don't buy it, someone else will get it!"
Our friend wrote: "Today is Good Friday, the night Jesus died on the cross for me. How could I not buy the picture for Handsome?" The picture of him hugging that painting is tattooed in my mind.
And it occurred to me that the little guy is onto something. About making Jesus yours while you can.
Not because there's a limited supply. But because that ultimate spiritual opportunity won't always be there.
Jesus described that opportunity this way: "Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear My voice and open the door, I will come in" (Revelation 3:20).
If I hadn't already "opened the door" to Jesus, watching that TV reminder of His awful death might have done it. Realizing the price He paid to rescue me from the death penalty for my sins. "He loved me and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20).
I suspect a lot of us have felt that knock, that tugging, in our heart. Possibly many times. But just like that little Native boy realized, it's important to grab Jesus while we can.
Because we never know when our heart will beat for the last time. And we'll suddenly be on the brink of eternity.
Or because of the spiritual point of no return. "Hardening your heart," the Bible calls it. Ignoring Jesus' knock so many times that you just don't hear Him anymore. The Bible warns: "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts" (Hebrews 4:7).
And there seems to be one other especially disturbing way that we can miss Jesus. One that can make postponing Jesus life's biggest mistake.
"Call on Him while He is near," the Bible says. (Isaiah 55:6). Which suggests He won't always be near. Jesus said, "No one can come to Me unless the Father...draws them to Me" (John 6:44). I've got to come to Jesus, not when I'm ready, but when He's ready. When I "hear His voice."
I remember the day I heard that Voice. And opened the door. He changed my life forever. And my eternal destination.
Moving from the emptiness of life without Jesus to the amazingness of life with Him. My personal "A.D."
