Nanosecond Jesus

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It’s so easy to categorize Jesus. Jesus gets a time slot. Perhaps a few minutes in the morning while you read the Bible.  Or on Sundays at church for an hour or so. Of course, during small group Bible Study. The rest of your 168-hour week is filled with other things.  Frankly, Jesus gets almost forgotten.  If a crisis hits, then Jesus is suddenly called upon to rescue the situation.

Is that the Christian life? Is that the way it’s supposed to be? Did Jesus come to give us that kind of life? Jesus, getting maybe 5-6 hours of my week? 

With 75% of society not attending church, they would categorize the above activities as “very religious”. But then again, what does an unsaved society know about faith?

Jesus came to redeem all of life, not just a time slot. 

There is not a single aspect of your existence that God ignores. 

This insatiable love God has wants to permeate every nanosecond of your life.

I’m all for sound doctrine. A guy needs to know scripture, articulate the Gospel, understand the meta-narrative of redemption woven throughout.  But, such knowledge doesn’t guarantee salvation. There’s a difference between knowledge and knowing.

Deep in each of us is a hunger to be known and understood.  Not, Do you know my name and address, and some facts about my life? Rather, do you know my heart? Does my life even matter to you?

Jesus longs for an ongoing deepening relationship with you. That relationship was broken by sin, and no effort on our end will bridge the gap. Nothing will fix it on our end.  

This is where Jesus enters. He does for us what we can never do for ourselves.  Jesus’ death on the cross opens the door for forgiveness.  Our part is to confess and repent, trusting Jesus for eternity.

Trusting in Jesus brings new life. It’s all about a relationship. 

In Revelation 3:20 it says that Jesus stands at the door and knocks. If anyone would open the door and invite him in, he will enter and some with them.

When you invite friends over for a meal, it’s an invitation to closeness. A deeper level of intimacy.  

Recently, I heard Sam Eldredge on a Wild at Heart podcast (episode 819) reference a quote that captured my attention. (Paraphrase)

If you live in the past, you will be controlled by shame and guilt. If you live in the future, you’ll be dominated by fear.  If you live in the present, you will have the dignified option to make choices that invite Jesus into whatever you are facing. In real-time.

This sent a shockwave over me as I internalized this truth. How much of my time is spent living in the past, regirgitating regrets and sins?  Haunted by my failures?  Yes, Christ redeemed me from that pit, but my Enemy is rehashing the past to keep me ineffective in my faith walk. 

Conversely, when I focus on the future, I am dominated by fear.  What if this happens, or that? Will I be ready for the conflict that could happen?  Why in my mind do things look larger than they end up being?

When I focus on the future, the Enemy paralyzes my effectiveness for Christ in the now. I’m seized up in either direction.

This wreaks havoc on one’s manhood. 

But if I focus on the present, I have the dignified option to invite Jesus into whatever I am facing.  And, I mean, whatever. 

The concept of inviting Jesus into the nanoseconds of our lives is essentially a continual living in his presence.  A nanosecond is one-billionth of a second. There are one billion nanoseconds in a second. Jesus is present in every nanosecond. 

Get the picture?

So, what are you facing right now?  Deadlines at work or school? A rift in a significant relationship? Feeling tempted to act out sexually later on today? Eager to dive into the Word when you get home tonight? Having a sense of blessing over some recent good circumstances? Or perhaps, facing an insecurity in your ability to lead others? Do you have it takes?

The list of what you face will always include the pull to letting either the past or the future control you. Don’t go there. Stay present. Invite Jesus into every nanosecond.

This is how we live the Christian life. Christ living his life through you.

Jesus, in Psalm 121 you say that you keep my life. You keep my going out and coming in. Nothing about me is outside of your presence.  I may know that in my head, but I want to experience you in it all. In every nanosecond of my life.

True warriors invite Jesus into the nanoseconds of life.

Warrior On!