Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
As we began to consider yesterday, Jesus is a reason to live. For example, he enhances the good things of this life. In I Timothy 6:17, Paul tells us that our Lord “giveth us richly all things to enjoy.” This truth certainly worked out in Paul’s life. Before his conversion to Christianity, he was a renowned scholar; he loved to study the Old Testament, but he also studied on hating Christ and Christians. His experience of salvation on the Damascus Road (Acts 9:1-19) led to a positive use of his considerable intellectual gifts. He still loved the Old Testament, but he now found Jesus there! His enjoyment of his studies increased dramatically as his knowledge and especially wisdom grew, causing him to break out in praise (Romans 11:33-36 comes immediately to mind). Moreover, he was no longer interested in hurting others; rather, he dedicated his life to helping others by teaching them about the eternal salvation that is freely available through faith in Jesus Christ. Truly Jesus enhances the good things of life, for He is the best reason to live.