Would I call today a first date in my pursuit of falling in love with Jesus? I don't think so. I would be more apt to call it reading his bio before saying I would like to meet him. Now, do not get me wrong, I am not trying to be mocking of what I already have found in Jesus, my salvation and peace, I want to have a fresh view of Him, to really love him, People say we become like what we love, I want to be like him.
For my quiet time I read Matthew 1 and Mark 1. At first, I found myself approaching these familiar passages with assumption. You know, like I already knew how God was going to teach me through them. Maybe that is why I am where I am with the Lord, assumption about him. After all, when we think we know all there is to know about our spouses, we tend to stop pursing knowing them. The result is dry relationships. I don't know, maybe that is carrying this parallel to far. Anyway, I began to see that Jesus was from a lineage of healed wounds. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba, and Mary. Each were culturally inappropriate and religiously unacceptable, each had a deep need of redemption in their circumstances. They each had to demonstrate faith in receiving the great grace awaiting them.
Both of these chapters include fulfillment of prophecies about the messiah found in Isaiah. God always keeps his word. Always! Beautiful! I can count on His faithfulness always.
Mark 1 is not about how Jesus arrives on the earth, through a virgin birth, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is about the birth of the ministry of Jesus. He is announced, anointed, and tested in this first chapter. He then gets busy and I am amazed already. He heals the sick, frees the demon possessed, and teaches with great authority. He is compassionate, he get alone in the early hours of the morning to pray. He does not seek fame, in fact he moves in its opposite direction. He is not derailed by the horizontal demands placed on him, but he stays focused on his vertical mission. He engaged with the religious, the sick, and the outcast.
Mary and Joseph named him Jesus in obedience to what the angel of the Lord had told them. (Matthew 1:21) Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. They called him Immanuel, which means, "God with us".
I desire to say with full confidence and great affect that I love this Jesus and am walking in the complete confidence of his love for me. I press on...
Psalm 31:16
"Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love."
