IS JESUS THE PRIZE?

Do I really believe it?  Is Jesus truly the prize? Or do I see him as a means to an end?  What kind of "end" am I running after?  Remember that old quote that said something to the effect of, "He who dies with the most toys wins"?  I can look at ways I've missed the mark, but let's be honest - most of us fall on one side or the other - either we focus so much on our failure, or we don't look at ourselves at all.  I'm learning to look to the Cross and there I find perspective and gratitude.  It is at the foot of the Cross where I lose my life only to find it becoming a little bit more hidden in my Father.  Such a journey.....but the journey is my own. It's me and Jesus.  No one else will ever walk the same road and no one will have the same conversations that you and I have on an individual basis with Christ.  Isn't that amazing?

I just got home from a wedding of a dear friend.  Another Beth.  Jesus truly is my friends prize which is why it was so fun to watch her marry Marten.  Marten wasn't the prize, even though he is great.  My friend let's others off the hook, so to speak, because she doesn't demand from others or from Marten what he cannot and should not give.  Her prize is Christ.

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus

Crucified to set me free
Now I live to bring Him praise

In the chaos and confusion
I know you're sovereign still

In the moment of my weakness
You give me grace to do your will

When you call I won't delay
This my song through all my days

There is no one else for me
None but Jesus

All my delight is in you Lord
All of my hope
All of my strength
All my delight is in you Lord
Forevermore
There is no one else for me
None but Jesus

My hero, Larry Crabb, wrote, "I'm troubled by how unquestioningly we live out our determination to make this life work.  All our hopes for happiness are bound up in it.  It's as if we believe this is the only world we ever plan to inhabit."   I struggle with this greatly.  I look all around me at brokenness and heartbreak - friends marriages falling apart, family members heartbreaks, the battle for life of a new friend, loss of support for many fellow CCC staff friends, single moms and dads working hard, others praying through adopting special needs children, and the list goes on, but Jesus calls us to the foot of the Cross where grace meets our pain and suffering and where we see just how much that he not only understands, but where he experienced all of it at one time.  He is not a God who is far off, but who is very near. 

Oh friends, He is our prize.