I don't want to get up. I don't want to get up. I don't want to get up.
My weekly Sunday morning thought process commenced. Church has been a hard thing for me to get into in college, but lately I've been working on going regularly. This morning made it quite difficult to get up.
But I did, and I had a moment in church today that I would love for you to read.
As I sat in service holding my coffee cup, the children's pastor called all of the kids to the front for the regularly held story time. Her mini-sermon commenced with an explanation of what the New Year meant for us every year and how it related to Jesus. It was cliché and adorable as the usual children's events are, until one question occurred.
"Jesus came to bring new things. What new things did Jesus come to bring?" she asked kindly.
Hands shot up across the floor as children jumped up and down in the fight to speak into the coveted microphone, but from the back of the pack of tiny wolf-humans came a shout that declared, "Jesus!"
Laughter erupted from the room of adults, but as the room saw the small boy's serious face, everyone grew quiet. No one had considered that his answer was spot on.
Jesus came to bring us something new: Himself.
He is joy and salvation. He is peace and virtue. He is refreshing, overwhelming and so, so loving. He came to make things new. He came to change the world and make it an entity no one could have imagined.
I had forgotten this.
Innately, we know that Jesus is Lord. However, I think that sometimes we forget the most incredible character traits he possess both in His humanity and His divinity.
As college students, it is difficult for us to see past the busyness and the blur of the life and the absurdity that constantly surround us. We run from comfort to comfort in the best and the worst ways, often forgetting that the greatest comfort of all came to bring newness of life and to overcome the darkness of death.
Busyness isn't a sin. Committing yourself to worthwhile activity isn't a sin. Losing ourselves in the busyness, however, can cause problems. That separates us from our Father.
In the coming weeks, find time to just sit and talk to Him. It can feel silly. It can feel awkward, but how beautiful is it to know that there's someone listening? He's not just someone, He's the One. He is the Creator of the universe and somehow wants for your problems to become His so that He may show you who He is. How calming is it to know that He is who is keeping you safe regardless of your mistakes and your decisions?
He came to make us new, and He came to save us from ourselves.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." - John 1:5
