There is a very appealing song in the movie Zootopia called “Try Everything” by an artist named Shakira.  I enjoyed the song and I enjoyed the movie, as did my kids…..

 

Today we come to the end of a five part series on Who What Where When and Why….as it relates to our Christian faith and following Jesus.

 

Today….we delve into the Why?

 

As is often the case with my quiet times and the resulting blog posts, I believe that today is the reason that the Lord had me write this entire series.

 

Why.

 

The world is unraveling in places right before our eyes.  We can pursue politics, social justice, gender equality, and every other issue that we deal with…..but our issue today comes down to two trees.

 

Genesis 3 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’ ”

4 “You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. 5 “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

 

We can either choose to follow Him or not to follow Him.  And there will always be things that tempt us to go the other direction.

 

But our reality is very simple:

 

There are sights that we were never meant to look at.

There are sounds that we were never meant to listen to.

There are things that we were never meant to try.

There is a throne that we were never meant to sit on.

 

This is not a condemning word…it is one that is meant to give life.

 

There is freedom in knowing that we DO NOT have the perfect plan…in knowing that all of our dreams will never fulfill us…in finding that our earthly satisfactions and pursuit will simply never be enough.

 

Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes that He puts the question on our hearts but does not give us the answer….this could lead many to frustration—but to the one who kneels before the King it brings freedom.

 

Jesus said that “unless we were born again we would have no part with the Father”, that we must “eat His flesh and drink His blood if we wanted to be part of Him”, that if we drank the water that He gave that we would “never go thirsty again”.

 

It is the reason that we pray:  “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…”

 

It is our confession that, without Him, we can never be whole.

 

The enemy is going to constantly tell us to try the “other tree”, to pursue the idea that we can be the god of our own destiny.  That we can find love and protection and eternity and life WITHOUT HIM…..but that is a lie from the pits of Hell.

 

He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Author and Perfecter of our Faith.  He is the Water that quenches our thirst, the Bread of life, and the Lamb who died for our sins.  In our weaknesses, He comes and brings victory.

 

This is not to oversimplify our lives…..just the opposite.

 

He has a plan that is beyond what we could see on our own.

 

And just as He filled my heart with a Word to type today, He wants to fill your world with His Spirit….that you might be delivered and healed and ready to walk in peace and hope and victory.

 

Why?…….

 

Because you can search all your life for that very thing to make you whole and you will never find it.

 

There is no drink strong enough

No high high enough

No true love true enough

 

There is no protection from the enemy’s snares

No insurance that replaces

No long term destiny that ends with you not dying at the end of your life

 

There is no pardon for your sin

No excuse for your shortcomings

No amount of money that could pay the debt you owe

 

If you run, you will get lost

If you party, you will fill up with things that will only empty

If you chase love, you find lust, identity issues, dissatisfaction

 

There is an answer to all these issues….it is the Answer.

 

It is Him.

 

So if you feel compelled to “try everything”, I want to encourage you to start with just one thing at the start of that pursuit:

 

Try Jesus.

 

Because after you have tasted what He has for you…..the rest of it is rancid, or without taste, or poisonous, or just simply unable to nourish your soul.

 

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

Know anyone who might like these?  Encourage them to jump on to 2minutewarning.blog and hit the FOLLOW button!!!

Coach J