Taking Jesus Just As He Is
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. Mark 4:36 NIV
At least the disciples went, that’s better than I have done at times. There have been times in my life where I followed Jesus closely and other times where I did not and, therefore, missed out on what God was trying to do in my life.
I love the phrase in this verse that says they took Jesus “just as he was”. While I am certain some theologian can impart wisdom to me about exactly what this means, I’m a simple-minded guy and it speaks volumes to me with what I do know of Scripture and my life experience.
Too many times we try to take Jesus, as we want Jesus to be, not as He intends for us to be. We like Jesus to do things on our terms, not His terms. We try to put our stamp on Jesus rather than allow His stamp on us. We try to fit Jesus in our box rather than conform our lives to Christ.
We don’t have to be followers of Christ long or have a Bible degree to figure out they would be better off with Jesus’ way than their own. I have often said that if you get better at something than Jesus is I’ll follow you. Even an unbeliever often knows the teachings of Jesus are a better way for us to live.
That leads me to ask an important question: Are you following your way or Christ’s way?
If God should choose to alter your life agenda would that meet your approval?
When is the last time you really took Jesus…”Just as He is”?
