January 23 2012

For You
 
Reading: Hebrews 12:2-3, 2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

Imagine you are with your band of brothers and while you’re talking with a few men, periodically, a different man comes up to you and says very excitedly, “He wants to see you.” Before you can ask, “Who”… He walks away, so you continue talking. Another comes up, “Can you believe it, He wants to see you?” “Who? Who wants to see me?”, you say, as he walks away. After a few more times, you become adamant, “Who wants to see me? And where is this person?” As soon as the words come out of your mouth, everyone in the entire place looks at you and begins to part the way. There at the end of the opening stands Jesus. He motions for you to come to Him. As you near Him, He motions for you to sit down, without saying a word. You look back at the other people who are now leaving to give the two of you some privacy. He pulls up a chair to sit down right in front of you. He sits down, looks you square in the eyes and says, “Hi,” with a gentle smile. Torn between excitement that it’s Jesus and a sickening feeling that you’re in trouble, you say “Hi” back. Then He calls you by name and says, “Do you know what I did?” Assuming He is talking about His sacrifice, you say, “Yes”. He then opens up His hands and lays them open in front of you and says, “No… do you know what I did?... Do you want to touch the scars?” You don’t really want to but you feel like you should. Then, He leans forward and looks at you until you are looking into His eyes and He gently says, “You… (he pauses and His smile grows as if He is thinking about it even more deeply) “You...,” He continues, “were worth it.” As that begins to sink in, He continues, “Every time that the whip hit my back, every time that my hand felt the vibration of the hammer hitting the nail, as I could feel the thorns digging into my skull, even the feeling of being forsaken by my Father… you were worth it… you were worth all of it.”

Men, today, let’s just fix our eyes on Him and let that sink in. You were His “joy set before Him.”
End of the Day Review
  
How did the realization that you were worth it to Him to make such a huge sacrifice affect your day?
 
 
How did it impact the way that you looked at Him or others today?