Seven Days With Jesus
I recently watched a documentary centered around the last seven days of Jesus' life here on Earth. Like all things pertaining to Jesus, I was undoubtedly intrigued. My imagination began to run wild as I thought about how incredible it would have been actually to see Jesus with my own eyes. Can you picture the master's face; the ability to touch the hand of the Savior? To sit down at a table covered with delicious loaves of bread and have a dialog with Jesus would be beyond a dream come true. So, I pondered it. What would seven days with Jesus look and feel like?
You snooze you lose
Of course, I would want to wake up earlier than ever before to commune with my Jesus. I set my alarm for 4:40 am to leap out of bed at 5:00. I do not want Jesus to see a messy room so; I made the bed with pancake flat sheets and military tucked corners. Then, I began to speak to Jesus. Not in monologue form where I just dump all my cares + fears on Him. I began to pray and meditate in the silence earnestly. I truly waited to hear the words of Jesus. I gave Him my first fruits of the day to chart the course for the following hours.
Psalm 5:3 King James Version
My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.
No excuses
So in my mind, I'm giving Jesus a tour of my everyday life. (As if He doesn't already know.) While interacting with people, I could not complain. Jesus is right beside me! When folks asked how I was doing, "Oh I'm blessed!" I'm not going to whine about my knee pain from the night before. Some people do not even have knees to complain about. It may seem humorous, but you won't find me making any type of excuse with things I've been blessed with- yes even leg joints.
Romans 8:18 NIV
I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
That healthy life
Jesus will not watch me stuff my face with an extra massive stuffed crust triple meat deluxe. Sorry, there's just no way around it. I am not my own creation. In fact, my Creator was sitting right across from me. I developed wise eating habits during this week in order to take care of this temple I have been blessed with. Did I consume a salad every single day, absolutely not? I'm a human being, not a rabbit! I did nix the extra (yet incredibly delicious) snacks and excess carbs.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 NIV
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; (v. 20) you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
My conversation
So Judy is mad and Karen, and she's telling everyone in the office, except Karen! She comes to me with this laundry list of reasons why her "friend" is an incompetent fool. The entire time she's blabbing, I'm just kind of a motioning my head + eyes toward Jesus. Hello, Karen's Father, your Father is standing right here next to me. Can't you see Him? You're running down your sister while ruining your reputation one yard away from Him! Frankly, my time is too valuable to indulge in this. You'll never tell Karen how you feel, so do not pretend I'm her to make yourself feel better for the day.
Ephesians 4:29 NIV
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.
James 1:26 NIV
Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless.
Social Media
The King of Kings was visiting with me for seven days. I didn't have time you look at your grandma's brother's niece's twins try a lemon wedge for the first time in a Facebook video. Sorry. My perspective on time became very clear this week. What was worth dwelling on, what can wait? Everything I gave my attention to fell into one of these two categories. When Jesus is with you, someone else's weekend trip to Cloud Gate seems slightly irrelevant.
Hebrews 12:1 NIV
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,
This entire experiment may seem comical to some, but the concept is not far fetched. When someone is about to explain a difficult concept to me I often preface the conversation by saying, "Explain it to men like I'm eight years old." If you cannot adequately breakdown a concept to a child; you have not quite grasped it yourself. So, the week I spent pretending Jesus was next to me the entire time snapped my priorities into perspective. Why; because He is with me every single day! No, we can not tangibly touch Him or share scrumptious bread, but nothing is hidden from the sight of our Lord. Too often people forget and think they can "get away" secret things, but that is not the case. We will be held accountable for every thought and every action, or lack of action of our life. This is your official unsolicited reminder; you do not just spend a week with Jesus. Every millisecond of your life is recorded for further review. Live accordingly.
