A Second Look. Mark Hart

Christ and Cleopas

       CHAPTER 11

       Encountering Jesus Revealed My True Purpose

       Christ and Me

       CHAPTER 12

       Encountering Jesus Calls You to Greatness

       Christ and You

       Introduction

Life’s Longest Journey

      The road from your head to your heart is the longest journey you’ll ever take.

      You could be a platinum-status world traveler. You could backpack across South America. You could walk the 500-plus-mile Camino across Spain. You could even sail around the world. But, in the end, you will not have accomplished as much as the soul who comes to know himself in light of knowing the one, true God. This incredible journey from head to heart may take years, even decades, but it’s the most important walk you’ll ever take as a Christian and, indeed, as a human — where God goes from an “if” or a “what” to a “Who” … from a “power” to a Lover, from a teacher to a Savior.

      Coming to “know” God in this way is not easy, but it is simple. Relationships require effort, and intimate relationships necessitate even more. Plenty of people know “about” Jesus, but even with the proliferation of technology and social media, fewer and fewer seem to truly know Him. Bibles go unread and prayers unsaid. Many of us function more off our pastor’s view of God — or even Hollywood producers’, political pundits’, or atheist bloggers’ views — than our own. Our vision or version of God is more often formed by others’ opinions than transformed by a personal relationship with Truth Incarnate.

      In this book you are going to be reintroduced to a handful of Bible characters and saints, and their individual stories. Some you might know well. Others you might not recognize at all. Some are heroic. Some are heartbreaking. But they’re all thoroughly human. If you look hard enough, you might find a little bit of yourself in each story. At the very least, you’ll be given an introduction to a God who is shocking and controversial, and uncontrollable in how He loves us. Perhaps this book will function as a reintroduction of sorts not only to the Gospels and the saints but to the Son of Man himself.

      To be clear, I don’t claim to have all the answers. In fact, this sinner doesn’t claim to have any answer, save one … that Jesus Christ wants all of your heart, and the Good Shepherd is coming for you. You can run — plenty have — but He won’t stop, and He won’t relent. The sheep can’t outrun the Good Shepherd. He’ll climb the mountain and plunge deep into the ravine. He’ll brave the hottest days and the coldest nights. He’ll go without food and water, without sleep or rest. He’ll leave the ninety-nine free to roam the hills. He’ll never quit and never tire. He’s coming after every sheep that wanders because you are worth more to Him than anything else.

      The truth is that our God wants our hearts. Jesus Christ wants your heart, and He won’t stop until He has it.

      Christ came to save us, and we need to let Him. He didn’t just come to teach us or to forgive us or to heal us (though He did all of those things); the itinerant carpenter from Nazareth came to save us. Jesus Christ may be meek, but He is not weak. He may be a lover, but He is also a warrior, one who has come to destroy death, conquer sin, and rescue us … often, from ourselves.

       Good versus evil through Scripture

      Every great story has a hero and a villain. Sometimes the greatest battles we wage are within ourselves. The enemy can be an external force, like an army, a giant, or a monster … or the enemy can be internal. The animal we attempt to tame can often come from within ourselves.

      Consistent through it all, though, are heroes. A hero cannot be measured by gender or in stature. A hero is not judged by intelligence or education, or by athletic ability or mere physical strength. No, a hero is judged by his or her heart.

      Out of the Midian desert, the hero came as an elderly shepherd sent to take on a mighty Pharaoh; his name was Moses. On the plains outside Bethlehem, a hero came in the form of a teenager with a sling and five stones to battle a giant named Goliath; this teen was named David. From eastern France emerged a young peasant girl during the Hundred Years’ War, a hero who would lead the French army to victories; she was named Joan. On the diseased and starving streets of Calcutta, a hero came in the form of a saintly woman less than five feet tall; her name was Teresa.

      And under the veil of night beneath Bethlehem’s sky, a hero came to us as a baby in a manger. Consider that premise. Is there any being on earth more beautiful or more gentle than a tiny baby? This was God’s plan to save us from the enemy? This was our “mighty savior” lying in a trough?

      Yes, our hope for salvation was pinned to the kid Mary was pinning diapers on. How’s that for a great story? As if that weren’t enough, throw in ancient prophecies, angelic interventions, a third-trimester road trip, a homicidal king, some dumbfounded shepherds, a few camel-lagged magi, and a birth announcement the size of a star, and you’ve got yourself a story better than anything Hollywood could dream of writing.

      Some dismiss it as just “a nice story,” but to do so is dangerous. The reality of God becoming man to save us from sin is far from a “nice” story. Sure, the baby Jesus is a gentle giant in the manger, but the events that preceded and followed are anything but pleasant. These mysteries — as they occurred — weren’t actually all that “joyful.”

      In the pages to follow, salvation will unfold before you. It’s a classic story with a hero and an enemy, a tale of good versus evil, of Light arriving, encountering, and eclipsing all darkness, one broken and remade heart at a time. It is now that God wants to remind you not only that He took flesh for you but that He died for you, is fighting for you, and has prepared a place in heaven for you.

      Let’s journey with the Lord through the Scriptures and watch His response to different sins and the souls who commit them. We will draw close to the Lord and peer deeply into His eyes. We’re going to sit at His feet as wisdom falls from his lips. We’re going to behold His face. We’re going to incline our ears to timeless stories, but examine how they might be lived out in timely, twenty-first-century ways.

       Every true journey begins with a question

      Before you turn this page, though, ask yourself if you are willing to let the Lord love you in radical and frightening new ways. Are you willing to be challenged? Are you willing to let the Lord change you from the inside out? Are you willing to be uncomfortable? Are you willing to die to yourself, your plans, and your dreams if God calls you to it? Exactly how far are you willing to go for your God?

      Are you willing to take a second look at the Jesus you currently know and allow Him to speak into your life in exciting and daunting new ways? Will you let the Lord love you in frightening new ways?

      These are just a few of the questions we’ll ponder, for if you’re going to live as a Catholic Christian in the modern age … get comfortable with being uncomfortable. The cross reminds us that God would literally rather die than spend eternity without you. God could live without you — He just doesn’t want to. God wants your heart, and by turning this page, you are signing the consent form.

      The secret to a joyful life and a hope-filled future isn’t about figuring out tomorrow; it’s about listening to God today. God, the Author of Life, has something to say to you through the brothers and sisters who came before you.

      Commit to read the biblical passages and verses referred to herein and to entering