God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.
Luke 24:1-8
But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered his words.
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
Early Sunday morning Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome take spices to Jesus’ tomb so they can tend to his dead body. But when they arrive, behold: the stone is rolled away. And the tomb is empty. As they’re processing the unexpected, two men in supernatural apparel say to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
Jesus is risen.
And he can’t be found among the dead.
I’m reading The Confessions by St. Augustine right now, and in my humble opinion, it’s one of the best books ever written. Throughout the book, Augustine shares the truth that only misery is found for those who live for the perishable. The way Augustine shares such raw and honest revelations of his own pursuit of the temporal makes for a compelling read. If you haven’t already, I recommend reading this amazing classic.
What he wrote resonates hard with me because that’s been my own experience. Anything and everything that’s not Jesus Christ is ultimately unfulfilling. The only place I’ve ever found fulfillment is in Jesus Himself, and in following his Way.
A fulfilling abundant life is only found in Jesus.
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (Jesus, John 10:10)
The Thief
Much of what Augustine writes in The Confessions has to do with the way the thief steals Augustine’s interest, and time, and energy, and money. For years he was caught up in the pursuit of entertainment, beauty, prestige, sex, and other pleasures. The thief stole those years from Augustine. The thief stole his time, his mind, his heart. The thief stole his life for all those years.
Lo, you were within,
but I outside, seeking there for you,
and upon shapely things you have made I rushed headlong,
I, misshapen.
You were with me, but I was not with you.
They held me back far from you,
those things which would have no being
were they not in you.
(Augustine, The Confessions, Book X, Chapter 27, Section 38)
The Bride and Her Ring
Imagine with me you found for yourself a beautiful bride; beautiful both inside and out. And, out of your great love for her, you made a magnificent ring. Now imagine with me that she, having received the ring, loves it more than she loves you, the bridegroom who created the ring for her.
Would not her soul be found guilty of adultery in the very gift of the bridegroom, albeit she did but love what the bridegroom gave her? By all means let her love what the bridegroom gave: yet should she say, This ring is enough for me, I do not wish to see his face now:
what sort of woman would she be? Who would not detest such folly? Who not pronounce her guilty of an adulterous mind? You love gold in place of the man, lovest a ring in place of the bridegroom: if this be in you, that you love a ring in place of your bridegroom, and hast no wish to see your bridegroom; that he has given you an earnest, serves not to pledge you to him, but to turn away your heart from him! For this the bridegroom gives earnest, that in his earnest he may himself be loved. Well then, God gave you all these things: love Him that made them. There is more that He would fain give you, that is, His very Self that made these things. But if you love these — what though God made them — and neglect the Creator and love the world; shall not your love be accounted adulterous?
(St. Augustine, Homily 2 on the First Epistle of John)
It’s no wonder we suffer in all manner of ways when we invest in what’s created at the expense of our relationship with the Creator. Can you imagine the difference between the life of the bride described above if she chose to fully engage in her relationship with her groom instead of neglecting him in favor of the ring he created?
“Miserable is every soul fettered by the friendship of perishable things” (St. Augustine, The Confessions, Book IV, Chapter 6, Section 11).
Choose Life
This Sunday is Easter Sunday, when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Jesus was dead on Friday. But he rose on Sunday. And now he lives. And he offers you, and he offers me, life. And not just life but a big, abundant life. A fulfilling life. Even eternal life, with him.
Jesus’ resurrection is your hope, and mine too.
Jesus is the hope of the world.
Dear reader, by all means love what the Bridegroom gave you. But never say, “His gifts are enough for me, I do not wish to see his face now
.”
Dear reader, you were created for relationship with your Creator. We live in a time of multiplying distractions, but only a shallow life is found there.
A deep, fulfilling, abundant life is only found in Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the Way.
Jesus is the Truth.
Jesus is the Life.
And he is risen.
Notes:
Saint Augustine, The Confessions, New City Press, April 1, 2007
Saint Augustine, Homily 2 on the First Epistle of John, New Advent
The Love Like Jesus Book
Available on Google Play Books and on Amazon!
Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)
Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:
- Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
- How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
- The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
- How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
- How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
- How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
- How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
- How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
- How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.
With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.
A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon and Google Play Books.)
We also recently released the audiobook version, beautifully narrated by Jonathan St. John. It’s available on the following platforms:
It’s also available on Amazon, Hoopla, Audiobooksnow, Chirp, Libro, Overdrive, and virtually everywhere audiobooks are offered.
