One bright and beautiful Sunday morning, people gathered in the church and listened to the organ play. Suddenly, Satan appeared at the front of the church. Everyone started screaming and running for the door, trampling each other in a frantic effort to get away from him. Everyone left except for one elderly gentleman who sat calmly in his pew, not moving, seemingly oblivious to the fact that God’s ultimate enemy was in his presence.
Now this confused Satan a bit, so he walked up to the man and said, "Don’t you know who I am?" The man replied, "Yep, sure do." Satan asked, "Aren’t you afraid of me?" "Nope, sure ain’t," said the man.
Satan was a little perturbed at this and asked, "Why aren’t you afraid of me?" The man calmly replied, "Been married to your sister for 48 years!"
I haven’t seen any of Satan’s relatives here and in that sense the only way you and I can stand up to him is to bear on our hearts the name of Jesus! One of the saddest things that can happen to any Christian is to hear the gospel invitation over and over again and go to the grave not having received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. The other day I was watching Dr. Michael Yousef (Pastor of The Leading Way Church in Atlanta) doing an interview on TBN and he said that one of the things he had learned in over 30 years of his ministry is that people are afraid of making any kind of commitment. He talked about the fact that there are so many single young women around because the men in particular are unwilling to make a commitment to marry. According to him this trend began about 40 years ago and is progressive. “We see the same thing in Church” he said. People attend Church but only a handful in every congregation have really committed their life to Christ. We put off for tomorrow what we can do today and for many, tomorrow never comes!
It is great to be in Church but if your life is void of Christ you might only be fooling yourself. May be you already have a wonderful relationship with Jesus – if so, share him with those who don’t. But for those of you who been finding it difficult to receive Jesus into your life allow me to share with you four simple steps to receive him into your heart.
Step 1 - Sit at his feet:
We are so accustomed to being in the driver’s seat whether steering a car or steering our lives. We always like to be in control no matter what the situation. Take Timothy McVeigh for example. Just before his execution he said, “I am the captain of my destiny and master of my soul”. But in terms of our spiritual life, if we are the master of our soul, then Jesus has no role to play at all. We might as well figure out our own salvation. Mary was a sinful woman but she won the heart of Jesus by sitting at his feet. Elsewhere scripture tells us (most scholars believe it is the same Mary) that she not only sat at his feet but that she also washed his feet with her tears. By humbling herself at the master’s feet, Mary not only chose her rightful place but was also able to win Jesus’ heart and receive him into her life. Scripture (Luke 10:38-42) tells us that “ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. Martha had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!" "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
Friends, it is better to sit at the feet of the Lord than have all the pleasures and riches in the world. Don’t allow yourself to get too caught up in everyday life that you have no time to be in God’s presence. A great way to reach into the heart of God is to sit at his feet!
Step 2 - Listen to his voice:
We have a little dog that we love very much. Unfortunately, he has to spend a lot of time in the garage because of obvious reasons. We leave our home for work each morning while it is still dark outside. When we open the garage door to take the car out, somehow he sneaks away into the darkness. At that time, we are so busy packing the car with our everyday things that often times we do not realize he’s gone. But when I find out, I begin to call. I can’t see anything in the darkness but I hope he will respond. It takes a few minutes but sooner or later I see him return in full gallop. He comes back because he hears my voice and is obedient to listen. He knows we love and care for him and that we call because we are worried about his safety. In like manner, Jesus does the same for us. You and I often sneak away into the darkness of this world to do things that is not pleasing to God. But God is always calling for us knowing fully well that we are on a dangerous mission. He keeps calling and calling and calling, hoping that we will hear his voice and come home. In John 10:27 & 28 Jesus says: “My sheep listen to my voice; and I know them. They hear and follow me. And because they follow me, I give them eternal life. Friends, if you are out in the darkness befriending the world, listen carefully for the Savior’s voice because he wants you to come home!”
Step 3 - Lean on his bosom:
Once you progress from step 1 which is to sit at his feet to step 2 which is to listen to his voice, you are well on your way to make Jesus the Lord of your life! But oftentimes at this stage of the game, trials and persecutions will come to you in double measure. Satan knows by now that he is loosing you and will do all in his power to take you away. So do not be discouraged if you see troubles and sickness and sorrow come your way because these are only meant to take you away from God. When Christ is closest to you, the storms of life rage the most. You remember when Jesus was in the boat with the disciples on the sea of Galilee? The boat was tossed around and it began to take on water. Jesus by then was fast asleep but it sure scared the disciples to death. Their faith was tested and when it got real bad, they awoke the Savior. In a sense they leaned on him for strength. In the journey of your spiritual life there will often be times when you can’t go it alone. You will need the strength and help of the one who conquered all and sometimes that means to rest your head on his bosom. One of Jesus’ best loved disciples learned to do that and Ch.13 and vs. 23 of John says “ Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of his disciples, whom Jesus loved.” Friends, when it gets rough, learn to lean on the bosom of the Savior!
Finally, Step 4 - Follow in his steps:
You’ve sat at his feet, listened to his voice, waged the storms of life by leaning on his bosom and now you are called upon to follow in his steps. This is the toughest part that calls for much sacrifice. You begin to look at others with the eyes of Jesus. When someone is crying, you won’t be at peace until you wipe those tears. When someone is hungry, you will do something to feed them. When someone is Sick you will visit them and when someone is lonely and afraid, you will share the love of Christ. You become the hands and heart of Jesus to a needy world. In terms of following this is what Jesus had to say :(Mat.10:37-39). "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his or her cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his or her life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Walking in Jesus’ steps means doing everything Jesus would do.
Let me leave you with a story of someone who found it difficult to receive Jesus into his life, but when he did, he knew how much it meant to have Jesus close to him.
A woman came to the Pastor one day and asked if he would come home and pray for her old and sick father. When the pastor arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. Beside his bed was an empty chair. Seeing the chair, the pastor assumed that the old man had been informed of his visit. "I guess you were expecting me," he said. "No, who are you?" asked the old man. "I’m the new Pastor at your church and when I saw the empty chair, I figured you knew I was going to show up”.
"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "I have something to say about that. Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the pastor shut the door. "I’ve never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all through my life I had never known what it means to receive Jesus into my life. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about Jesus knocking on the door of our heart but it always went right over my head. I abandoned any attempt to figure this out until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, ’Joe, receiving Jesus is just a simple matter of having feeling that he is always with you and here is what I suggest.
Sit down on a chair, and place an empty chair in front of you. Then imagine for a moment that Jesus is sitting on the empty chair. It’s not spooky because he promised, ’I’ll be with you always.’ Then just speak to him and listen in the same way you’re doing with me right now." "So, I tried it and I’ve liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I’m careful, though because if my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she’d either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."
The pastor was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, and returned to the church. Two nights later the daughter called to tell the pastor that her daddy had died that afternoon. "Did he seem to die in peace?" he asked. "Yes, when I left the house around two o’clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me one of his corny jokes, and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the empty chair beside his bed."
Friends, you either know the Lord or you don’t. Only you know where you are on this. I ask that you spend the next couple of minutes prayerfully imagining if you will that Jesus is sitting next to you. His arms are wide open and he is expecting that you will give yourself to him…… if you haven’t done that already consider making him Lord of your life so that when it comes time for you to go home, you too will have a place to rest your head. Amen.
