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Inviting Him Into Our Lives?

             They pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him. (Luke 5:1)

         

            It’s not quite a Christmas story. It’s not even a story about Jesus coming into the lives of those described. Jesus had already met them, and they had been present when he turned water to wine at a wedding feast. But it is the story of Jesus officially inviting them to be part of His life. That’s the reverse of the way we usually think about it. We talk about inviting Jesus into our life.

            But that’s not what Jesus did with the disciples. I know that in Revelation 3:20, Jesus spoke of standing at the door and knocking. That’s where we get the idea. The Pharisees invited Him to their homes, but they didn’t leave their homes to follow him. They were willing for Him to be part of their lives, but not all. And they weren’t willing to enter into His life.

            As we approach Christmas, this is an idea worthy of consideration. It’s easy to invite Jesus into your life and spend time with Him now and again. But when temptations come, or we’re not in the mood, it’s just as easy to pretend He’s gone on vacation. After all, it’s our life. He’s visiting our home. If we accept the invitation into His life, it’d be rude for us to do things He’s said not to, to break up the furniture or sell the house.

            And the big problem is that even if we think we’ve committed our lives to Him, we still tend to act as though they’re still our lives. We don’t know how to not do so.

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