A Mind-blowing Revelation
As I was driving home today the words of this blog came pouring out of my head. I was thinking about the concept of Imagining Jesus and what exactly it means. My first thought was that I hope everyone who reads these posts will get to know Jesus like I do. Then I thought, no that isn't right. It is something far better than that.
I began to think of relationships and what makes them special, because that is what God wants from us. For example I know how my mother would interact with me is different than how she would interact with each of my 6 siblings. She understood we were all individuals, and so her relationship with each of us was unique to our personalities. I won't say that it was perfect, because some of us have more difficult personalities, but she understood that.
We used to have this joke about being Mom's favorite. I think we all secretly wanted her to favor us over all the others, or at least us girls did. The funny thing is, because of the intimate way she knew us, it might have seemed that she was closer to one than to all the others. I think it was just that her relationship was stronger because the communication was more vibrant and open. There seemed to be a deeper trust, which comes with communication and openness.
That is when it occurred to me that Imagine Jesus is like Imaging my mother. Mom died several years ago, but I still find myself smiling at certain things that I know would have made her laugh. I still cry when I hear recordings of her music. I don't cry out of sadness, but the sweetest memories I have were watching her play. It was like art in motion. The way her fingers moved down the keyboard, the way she would scowl when she hit a wrong note, or my favorite of all, the way she held her tongue while she played. I think that was the key to her genius.
My point is this. When you really know someone intimately, personally and on such a deep level as a mother with a child, or a spouse, you can imagine them clearly. You can see how they would react to something shocking. You can see them laughing out loud at the funniest of all jokes. You can see them encouraging you, hugging you, and giving you a gift. Each of those moments are unique to the relationship.
So here we are. Imagine Jesus as He relates to you. You and I are not alike. We were created to be different. As children of God, He knows what makes each of us unique. What makes you draw close to Him is different than what makes me draw close to him.
God knows that I am a visual person. I love to see things differently. So today for example on that drive home, I looked out the window and up in the sky at the dark clouds and discovered that there was a hole in the clouds right where the sun was. I was amazed at just how bright the light was, but not only that the rays that shot out from that hole caused me to say, "Wow! Thank you God. What a beautiful thing to see!" I couldn't stop looking at it. I thought of mom. She would have liked it, too. I imagined her and I sharing that moment of utter splendor. We had that in common. We loved the beauty in nature especially those things that were fleeting. "Hi Mom," I said as I looked at it one last time. Imagine what SHE gets to see!
So Imagine Jesus as he relates to you. The closer you become through praise, prayer and study the more you can actually imagine. Just like a parent who knows their child through and through, God knows you. He is speaking to you every day, in the ways that He knows will be the best way to meet you where you are.
That is it. I'm not trying to make people see Jesus my way. I want everyone to know Him so intimately that they can just Imagine Jesus like you would imagine a best friend. Perhaps that is why He has given me this little blog to write.
Philippians 3:10-11 " I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
Psalm 100:3 " Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture."
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