Loving the Real Jesus

I never get tired of hearing about Jesus, about the true Jesus.

I know why people sat there and just listened to Him until they were hungry. I know why women followed Him around and gave Him their money and supported His ministry. I know why the woman with the alabaster jar of ointment poured it out on His feet. I know why people got healed so easily and frequently in His presence.

Because He was just oozing love for them. His presence was one of perfect love and perfect peace.

One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is after He was raised from death. The disciples had gone back to Galilee, and were fishing. They hadn't caught anything. Jesus is standing on the shore and He yells at them, "Children, do you have any food?" There is something in that one sentence that blesses me so much. It is so endearing that He called them children.

They were in some in-between moments where they didn't really know what was going on, so they went back to that life before Jesus. And Jesus appears and meets them where they are at. They are just fishing. And then Jesus directs them, and they catch a lot of fish, 153 to be exact. It is reminiscent at the beginning of His ministry, how when Jesus used Peter's boat, and He filled the boat up with fish afterward.

And then Peter jumps out of the boat to swim to Jesus. What kind of love would evoke a grown man to jump into the water and swim to Jesus?

He is still the same Jesus. He is still lovingly calling to us. He is still caring for our emotions. He is still caring for our physical needs. And I believe that if we hear enough about and get to know the real Jesus, we would all be just like Peter, willing to cast it all aside and just run into His arms.

My prayer is that we would all grow to know His love to this measure. Blessings to you on your journey,

~Beth