Have you ever read the book “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever”? The book cover actually crosses out “best” and has “worst” written on it.
A movie from the book was recently released (November 2024). I had the opportunity to see the movie.
While the book and the movie have you laughing at the antics of the Herdman children, there is a very sober view of the people who attend the church the children decided to visit. Many of the people were those whose relationship with Jesus hadn’t influenced their hearts. Instead, they were more concerned about appearances and promoting their pageant.
It made me realize that many of the people were playing church. They looked like they were serving Jesus, but as you watched their reactions toward the Herdman children, who had never heard of Jesus, you realize that these folks had not understood Jesus’ message. However, one woman stood out. She had a heart for the children. She was willing to be ridiculed and rejected for the sake of the children.
Please consider these verses from Mark 8:34-38.
“Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
From this passage, we understand that when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, God does an amazing work in our lives. The changes He makes are transformative.
First, Christ’s followers must live for Jesus and not for selfish ambitions (“deny themselves”). I would refer to this as transformative repentance. It is God’s people living in such a way that Christ is demonstrated in the manner in which they conduct ourselves.
Second, we must “take up our cross”. Consider what it was like for Jesus to carry His cross. It was done through rejection, challenges, and trials, but God also was present with Him during that time in amazing ways. God sent someone to help Him carry the physical cross. God has sent His Holy Spirit to indwell His people so that we can bear up under the weight of the challenges we experience. What other thoughts come to mind when you consider all that Jesus experienced as He went to the cross and bore the sins of the world?
Third, we must “follow” Jesus. Jesus is our role model. He detailed in His teachings the ways we should handle ourselves while living in this world. Furthermore, the remainder of the New Testament writings are our further guide to following Jesus.
If we want to have a life now that is fulfilling, and also to spend eternity with Jesus, we must let go of what we consider important, and replace those things with what matters to Jesus. That all surrounds the work of sharing the gospel. This mission is primary to the lives of all Jesus’ followers. “For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.”
Should we decide that we want to be in control of our lives, we may have some worldly gains, but all will be lost for eternity. We could have money, fame, possessions for maybe 100 years, yet lose out on the best blessings for all eternity. Somehow, that doesn’t seem to be worth the worldly gains and the loss of one’s soul for eternity. “What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?”
I think the above passage contains another very strong warning: “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.” I cannot imagine having Jesus being ashamed of me, and stating that fact to our great Father God.
I am very grateful that Jesus willingly paid the penalty for my sins, and equips me to be His servant. He deserves all the credit for anything worthwhile that I do for His kingdom. Imagine what it is like for Jesus to tell our great Father God that He is proud of us! That is the absolute best we can ever want.
How about you? Do you want Jesus to be ashamed of you when He talks with His Father about you, or do you want Him to tell His Father that you are one of His?
We need to regularly evaluate our hearts with God, so that we know we are abiding in Him, and not simply playing church.
If you do not yet have a living and transformative relationship with Jesus, I urge you to stop now, and ask God to help you establish that relationship.
If I can help you with your relationship with Jesus, please contact me at: ButGodCares@gmail.com.
Living for Jesus, Donna
P.S. If this has helped you, please feel free to share it with others!
Note: If the verses for Bible references do not appear when you hover over them, go directly to the website, and they should appear for you. Also, please remember to look at the full context of the verses by reading the complete passage.
Copyright 2024 Donna Shappy All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other – without the prior permission of the author.