There was a certain old recluse who lived deep in the mountains of Colorado. When he died, distant relatives came from the city to collect his valuables. Upon arriving, all they saw was an old shack with an outhouse beside it. Inside the shack, next to the rock fireplace, was an old cooking pot and his mining equipment. A cracked table with a three-legged chair stood guard by a tiny window, and a kerosene lamp served as the centerpiece for the table. In a dark corner of the little room was a dilapidated cot with a threadbare bedroll on it.
They picked up some of the old relics and started to leave. As they were driving away, an old friend of the recluse, on his mule, flagged them down. “Do you mind if I help myself to what’s left in my friend’s cabin?” he asked. “Go right ahead,” they replied. After all, they thought, what inside that shack could be worth anything?
The old friend entered the shack and walked directly over to the table. He reached under it and lifted one of the floor boards. He then proceeded to take out all the gold his friend had discovered over the past 53 years – enough to have built a palace. The recluse died with only one friend knowing his true worth. As the friend looked out of the little window and watched the cloud of dust behind the relative’s car disappear, he said, “They should have got to know him better.”
I began my message with this story last Sunday. Then shared, I have a friend, a family member, who has riches beyond this world’s imagination. He wants me – and many of you – to inherit those riches. All you need to do is get to know Him better.”
My friend, my family member, is Jesus Christ. To get to know Him better I must understand Him. He went to synagogue every sabbath. He learned as a child and beyond. He watched and prayed to His Father every day to know His Father’s will. In today’s society, we want to say this is what we do. Yet, how much of our spiritualness is superficial, based on what someone else told us, or what our particular brand of religion prescribes.
Jesus spoke differently. When people heard Jesus speak, they recognized a difference in His speech than the religious leaders and Rabbis (teachers). Jesus was aware that popular applause was of little value. He spoke the truth, and it caused people to turn against Him – even those in His own hometown who had watched Him grow up.
Today, many Christians, even preachers and priests want to receive the applause and comforting strokes of man. This wasn’t Jesus’ model. He modeled teaching the Love of God coupled with the justness of God. God’s greatest attribute is love. Therefore, He must also be a “just” God. As a loving parent will not allow a child to eat only candy and ice cream due to unhealthy consequences, God acts in a just manner to protect and grow His children.
How about you? Are you getting to know Jesus better – each day? What is your daily practice to grow in relationship with God? From this day forward, will you be like the prospector’s family who drove away thinking there was nothing of value. Or will you be like the trusted friend who knew all about the vast riches and where to find them?