This week is the reason I love being a Christian. If
you didn’t know, Jesus died on the Cross to become our sin so that we may have
a chance for eternal life in Heaven. Then on Sunday, Jesus was resurrected symbolizing
the eternal life that is granted to all who believe in him. It is also about
complete verification of all Jesus had preached and taught during his ministry.
My name is Tucker Jensen and I am a former Toronto
Blue Jays pitcher. Normally, I would be “blogging” about my experience or
exploits with baseball. Those times will come when the season starts. However, I
wanted to do a blog that could possibly change perspectives in people’s lives
who have not committed themselves to Jesus Christ or were questioning themselves
because they deem themselves, “unworthy.” I don’t have a testimony that will move
you in a way to lead you towards Jesus. God will reveal himself just as he did
in my life. He doesn’t force himself upon our lives. Maybe this post isn’t for
you. Maybe you’re already saved and my words mean nothing. Or that you don’t have
the time to read what you think is “non-sense.” Maybe your life is perfect and don’t
need any help, or that your life sucks and you blame God for it. Maybe this isn’t
for you. But what if you are like me? What if you believe in God but think you
are not worthy? What if you believe in God but need evidence? What if you believe
in God but are embarrassed by all that you have done in the past and present and
think… how could someone love me after all this?
I’m a strong believer in the fact that everything
happens for a reason. God revealed himself to me during a conference in
Jacksonville, Florida listening to Matt Chandler and Eric Mason speak. Also,
while at this conference, I saw others who were like me who struggled finding a
reason for God to love me. Maybe by writing this post, I can convince others
that you are not alone and that God does love you. I’m not writing this entry to
force religion onto anyone or to say because of my faith, I am better than you.
I was fortunate to listen to some great speakers and other Christians who showed
me God’s love. My goal isn’t to change the world or to become, “the next big
thing.” I only want to show others that Jesus has died for their sins too:
past, present, and future. To share everything that had helped me.
Many, including myself in the past, have trouble
believing in God. And if they do, how could he ever love and forgive me for all
that I have done in my life. I was once embarrassed for all that I was or had
done. I thought I had all I needed in my life. I was a professional baseball
player, there were women, there were parties, and there was money. I also had a
good support system with family and friends. What else do I need? But yet,
there was something missing. It was 2012, before I had gone to the Jacksonville
conference; I’m thinking big things are going to happen with my baseball
career. Things didn’t go that way at all. I didn’t get on a team for the season
and had to attend Extended Spring-Training: something no baseball player my age
wants to attend. Little did I know, my life would change forever. I started
going to bible studies and going to church on a weekly basis, I changed the way
I talked, I changed the music I listened to, and the people I hung out with.
That hole I was missing was finally filled. My life had changed.
Are you like this? Is there something missing in
your life? Are you embarrassed of your sin(s)? Are you struggling? Do you think
God is disappointed or frustrated? How could God love me? How could he love
you?
This is why this week is so important. John 3:16
says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”God does not regret
this. Nothing we do surprises him. He is not watching you and all your struggles.
He is not watching you stumble and fall regretting the decision to pay the
price for you in full. God loves today’s version just as much as the future
you. God is all about your good. The Lord is faithful to those who struggle or
go through loss.
How are we so deserving of this gift? This love? How
can we be loved in such a way? God, in his flesh form, sacrifice himself to
become our sin. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this;
while we were still Sinners, Christ died for us.”WOW. “When we are at our
worst, Jesus was at his best. When we least deserve grace, his grace was the
absolute most. When we have nothing to show we deserve mercy, he takes our
nothing to show his mercy for us.”
1 John 4:9-11 says “This is how God showed his love
among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live
through him. This is Love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent
his son as an atoning sacrifice for our Sins. Dear friends, since God so loved
us, we also ought to love one another”
I am nowhere near perfect or capable to tell you
what to believe or what not to believe. I don’t know everything about the gospel
or how to interrupt a lot of things. All I know and what has been explained
what God has done for me in my life. I was embarrassed for who I was in the past
and even the present. Your salvation isn’t a past event alone, but that Christ
even now is continuing to save you. He didn’t forgive your sins in the past
leaving up to us Christians to conquer our present and future sins. Jesus paid
the bill in full.
God knows we are going to screw up often. He knows
we are going to screw up often. He knows we are going to be drawn to things
that are wicked. That’s what the cross is all about. That you’re going to
stumble, that you’re going to fail, you’re going to feel dirty, you’re going to
feel awkward. The whole point of the cross of Christ is that there’s going to
be this mighty picture of his love and pursuit of you despite you. So the cross
is necessary because of you, but it’s also the picture we have of just how far
He’s willing to go because he loves us. -Matt Chandler
No comments:
Post a Comment