Think back. Can you remember when your school classmates were choosing
sides for a game?
Were you ever picked last? Were you ever
consistently the last one who was selected? From experience I can tell
you it's a terrible thing to be considered the worst player in class.
If that scenario doesn't seem familiar, let me ask you guys, did you
ever ask a girl out for a date and have her look at you like you were
some slimy thing that had just crawled out from under a rock? Ladies,
let me ask you, did you ever sit by the phone and wait for someone
special to call and ask you out to an important occasion? The silence of
the phone was deafening, wasn't it? Nobody likes to be written off.
Most of us don't expect to be number one in everything we do; on the
other hand, we also don't expect to be number last either. We don't like
to be written off.
Having said that, I'm amazed at the number of
times the Gospels speak about people who didn't pick Jesus first,
second, last or at all.
When Jesus was born, King Herod did his
best to make sure Jesus would be forgotten. Years later the crowd in His
hometown of Nazareth refused to let Him lay claim to the Messiahship.
Jesus fulfilled all the prophecies about what the Savior would say and
do, but His church, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and numerous
individuals refused to believe in Him and most did their best to have
Him murdered.
Today, 2,000 years after Jesus was born in
Bethlehem, things haven't changed.
Like Herod, there are
governments which try to eliminate the Savior; there are countries like
the community of Nazareth which threaten anyone who would preach Christ
crucified and risen; there are religions who promise to execute anyone
who converts to the Savior; there are organizations which, like the
Pharisees, constantly plot to have His Name removed from public
consideration and consciousness.
They all want Jesus to be number
last in the minds and hearts of people.
But things haven't
changed.
Jesus is still the Savior; His sacrifice still moves
people from darkness to light; His resurrection still provides comfort
to those who mourn, and His forgiveness allows hundreds of millions to
be at peace.
No, things haven't changed.
Gabriel's words
remain reliable and true: Jesus still saves people from their sins.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, although many people would confine Jesus to
being number last, may He always be first in my thoughts, my life, my
prayers and my hope. Because He has saved me from my sins, may I be
grateful and able to show my appreciation in all I do and say. In His
Name. Amen.
Pastor Ken
Klaus
Lutheran Hour Ministries All rights reserved;
not to be duplicated without permission.
