Jesus Messed it up

If the title didn’t get your attention, probably nothing will. But that wasn’t the intent for the title. That title is simply a statement of fact, even though it may, at first, sound weird. Picture what I am about to relate as about you, because, like it or not, it probably will, to one degree or another be about you as well as me. In fact, I believe it is applicable to most of us Christians.


You see, I came around to Christ fairly late in life, though the timing of my acceptance of Him, nor yours, isn’t really the key issue for the purposes of this musing. What is key is that I, and you, came around—we became believers. In my other life, which I would never, ever, want to go back to, I was a pretty care-free person who knew that there are consequences for every action. And, since most of my actions were not indicators of good behavior, morals, or proper understandings of right and wrong, I really didn’t have a whole lot of tension in my life. Oh, for sure, there was plenty of stress. I stressed over whether I would get caught and punished. I stressed about the consequences of my actions, and I stressed about how to do things in such a was as to not get caught and pay the consequences. Those stressors were temporary. They ebbed and flowed in timing with my various activities, but they didn’t weigh me down, or last, and thus I didn’t necessarily feel tension.


Then I found Christ—or should I say, He captured me. He messed my tension-free life up. As I grew in my grasp of Christianity, a yet on-going process, there is always this tension within me. But it is a good tension, one that I wouldn’t have any other way. It’s the tension that comes with the recognition (as opposed to the blindness I formerly experienced) that who I am today is not the man I want to be. It’s the tension that comes with knowing that there is more that I can do, more that I can be. Again, it is a good tension because it means that now I am aware of myself, my shortcomings, my needs to overcome them, my potential, and the reward that awaits me.


Yep, Jesus messed it up, but in doing so he gave me myself and a future in Him. 

What a gift!


Can you relate?