A few years ago my oldest son took up the game of chess. \u00a0He played on his elementary school team. \u00a0To help him practice between days that they met for official practice, I would play him in a game of chess. \u00a0He certainly got better over time, and even on one occasion he beat me because he finally listened to his old man. \u00a0The one thing I noticed about him was that he would already have a move ready in his mind. \u00a0It didn’t matter that I hadn’t made my move yet. He was ready, or so he thought. \u00a0Many of the times when he would lose to me, it wasn’t because I was a superior player. \u00a0Before he started playing chess, I had never played the game myself. \u00a0The primary difference between the two of us was that I would try to take my time and think not only about the move I was going to make, but also I would try to think two to three moves ahead. \u00a0Andrew on the other hand, just wanted to make his move. \u00a0There were multiple times that as soon as I would make my move, he would immediately make his and say “your move dad.” \u00a0The time that he beat me, he took his time, surveyed the board, saw what he wanted to do, and even tried to think through how I would play my moves. \u00a0I would like to say that that occurred shortly after we started playing, but to the best of my recollection, it took about three or four months. \u00a0I would always plead with him to slow down, take his time, and think through what he was doing. \u00a0I got to thinking about this story when I read through a familiar Bible story the other day.<\/p>\n
The Bible story is found in Matthew 19. \u00a0It is about a young man who came to Jesus. \u00a0The young man wanted to know how he could be saved. \u00a0After Jesus and this young man had a conversation, Jesus got to the heart of the issue. \u00a0This young man thought he could do something to earn his way into heaven. \u00a0He was convinced that he had followed the Mosaic Law and treated others the way he should have. \u00a0Then Jesus drops this bomb on him, “If you will be perfect (complete in your faith), go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me” (Mt. 19:21). \u00a0Jesus had a two-fold reason for His answer. \u00a0First, He wanted to show this young man that he didn’t really love others as much as he thought he did. \u00a0Second, Jesus wanted to reveal to this young man who his god really was. \u00a0Jesus’ declaration of giving it all away and following Him was meant to show that this young man loved his stuff more than he loved the Savior. \u00a0But this isn’t even the thought that ran through my mind at the time. \u00a0What was running through my mind was how Jesus handled the situation. \u00a0It is clear that Jesus loved this young man. \u00a0He stopped, had a conversation with him, corrected some faulty theology the young man had, and even told him how he could be saved. \u00a0But what we don’t see is Jesus bargaining with this young man. \u00a0He told him what he needed to do in order to be saved, and then left it right there. \u00a0Jesus essentially looked at this young man and said “your move.”<\/p>\n
Jesus does the same for you and I today. \u00a0He isn’t going to bargain with us, He isn’t going to beat us over the head in order for us to surrender to His grace that we might be saved. \u00a0He is going to tell us what we need to know and what we need to do, and then He is going to leave it right there. \u00a0The next move is our response to Jesus and His grace. \u00a0Jesus has told us how to be saved, and He has told us how to live a life that brings Him glory and is for our good. \u00a0If we love Jesus, we will obey Him (John 14:15). \u00a0It’s great that we say that we love Jesus. \u00a0The question is does our life reflect that? \u00a0Jesus has given us all we need to know, so it’s our move. \u00a0We will move closer to Him through loving obedience, or will we move further from Him?<\/p>\n
Pastor Justin<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A few years ago my oldest son took up the game of chess. \u00a0He played on his elementary school team. \u00a0To help him practice between days that they met for official practice, I would play him in a game of … Read More