Jesus: Pure and Simple – Living Life Along the Way

Jesus: Pure and Simple
Living Life . . . Along the Way
1 Corinthians 2:1-5

INTRODUCTION:
“Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).

When Bill Maguffee performed funeral services, he would often speak about the “dash” in-between the dates. How do you live your life, along the way?

JESUS ALLOWED INTERRUPTIONS:
When we consider Jesus and the way of His discipleship, so many important acts happened along the way. Read the following excerpts and notice the life that takes place in between. In Mark 5:21–43, Jesus was on His way to the house of an important official, Jairus, to heal his ailing daughter. Yet in between, a woman with a hemorrhage touched His coat, and she was healed.

Something eternal took place between points A and B.

In Luke 17:11–19, ten lepers needed cleansing, and when Jesus saw them, He simply said, “Go and show yourselves to the priest.” As they were heading over to the priest, the lepers were healed.

A miracle happened along the way between points A and B.

In John 4:1–42, Jesus was traveling from Galilee down to Jerusalem and stopped off at a town called Sychar in the region of Samaria. Along the way, Jesus met a woman while sitting at a well. For the first time ever, the woman encountered understanding, grace, forgiveness, and restoration.

Something marvelous happened between points A and B.

What we think is our goal may be distinctly different from God’s goal. Miss those in-between moments and we just might miss what’s eternal. Some of the most eternal events in life happen along the way.

Effective or Efficient?
Romans 8:29 - “For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.”
God’s main goal is often not leisure. It’s likeness. It’s not living an easy life. It is living an effective one. Do you know the difference between being efficient and being effective? The words sound similar at first. But they have very different meanings. We can have efficient communication systems, computers, and satellites. We can have efficient companies, water purification systems, and nuclear programs. But although we are efficient, we are not necessarily effective. We are failing in our families, our marriages, our relationships, morals, and manners. Here’s the difference: Being efficient is doing things right. Being effective is doing the right things.

Once a man came running into his doctor’s office. “Doctor, quick! Give me the best thing you’ve got for the hiccups.” “The best thing?” the doctor asked. “Yes! The absolute best thing.” “You want it now?” “Now!” The doctor clenched his fist and walloped the man as hard as he could in the stomach. The man doubled over in a coughing fit. “What did you do that for?” he wheezed. “You wanted the best thing for hiccups, right?” the doctor said. “Yes!” “Well, do you have the hiccups anymore?” “No,” said the ailing man. “But my wife waiting in the car still does!” The doctor was efficient but not very effective.

Three Points in Living Life Along the Way
I’m a multitasking person by nature. I have my smartphone linked into my computer, which automatically syncs my calendar so I can multitask everything. I like to get lots done. But in spite of all that efficiency, I constantly need to gauge my effectiveness. The big question is “Am I spending my time not only doing things right but doing the right things?” Here are three crucial emphases to living life along the way. Let’s look at each one.

Focus - “He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense” (Proverbs 12:11).

Steve Jobs, the late entrepreneurial genius behind Apple’s success, was fired in 1984, but when the company’s stock fell through the floor, he was rehired in 1997. The biography of his life by Walter Isaacson tells the story of that reentry. Upon seeing the multitude of peripherals Apple was engaged in, barefooted Steve Jobs walked to a white board, drew a square, and divided it into quadrants. In one square, he wrote “pro.” Next to it, “consumer.” In the bottom square, he penned “desktop,” and in the final square, “mobile.” He then turned to his engineers and said, “Make one Apple product for each box and cancel the rest.” Focus. It worked. Although Apple added three more initiatives to the original four, in fourteen years, Apple would rise to become the world’s most valuable company, worth over 2 trillion dollars. Focus.

It works in every area of life. You will find this same principle peppered throughout the sacred pages as if to remind us over and over again of the importance of focus. “One thing . . .” “Set your mind . . .” “He set His face like a flint . . .” “Straightaway . . .” “Turn neither to the right nor to the left . . .” “Let your gaze be fixed in front of you . . .” “A double-minded man will be unstable in all his ways . . .”

2. Intentionality: Wherever You Are, Be There
Have you ever missed something important because you were daydreaming, sleeping, or rushing to get ahead? Maybe you’re sitting in church but you’re checking e-mail. Or you’re at home doing your devotions and you think, “I’d rather be golfing.” You’re there, but not really. You skip life as it’s happening and exchange the here and now for somewhere out there. But what if there was something in the now that Jesus really wanted you to see?

Life happens in between the running and jumping. If we are not careful to understand that, we can miss some of God’s biggest plans. God invites us to exchange our desires to be efficient with our understanding of effective ministry—in this case, never forgetting who I am or who I represent. Maybe He means to slow us down.

3. Lordship: Jesus Alone
Jesus tells us, in essence: “Your lord is the one who controls your disposition, your decision making, and your choices. Have you noticed that your relationship with your wife went from good to bad in just one exit? Whoever has that much power over you is the one you have bowed to as your ‘lord.’” We will have many lost keys and wrong exits in our lives, but there can be only one Lord. We give lordship away far too freely. See if you can recognize these lords: A friend’s bad attitude that ruins ours. Another Christian who acts horribly causes us to stay away from church.

A driver who cut us off on the freeway turns us into an angry avenger as we tailgate him for a few miles just to let him know our displeasure. A boss’s decision that we disagree with gives us the rationale to gossip and complain. Who’s your lord? You won’t always see the reason for things that happen, but if you can see His hand, it won’t matter.

Lead Me to the Rock
A dad was landscaping his backyard and wanted to teach his ten-year-old son how to develop a strong work ethic. Buried in the middle of their backyard was a big rock. “Son,” he said. “I want you to do everything you can to move that rock to the side of the house.” The son pushed the rock. He dug around it and tried to lift it out. He got a crowbar and tried to pry it out. Finally he said, “Dad, I’ve tried everything. I can’t move it.” “No,” the dad said. “You haven’t tried everything. Try again to move that rock.” Again the son tried. He pushed, and dug again, and pried again. With sweat on his brow, he came back to his dad. He said, “Dad, I tried everything and I still can’t move it.” “You still haven’t tried everything,” the father said.

“No, I tried everything,” said the son. “Try again,” said the father. The son went back to the rock and kicked it, punched it, and yelled at it. He got a hammer out of the garage and tried to break the rock. Exhausted, the son came back to his father. “Dad, now I’ve tried everything. There’s no way I can move it.” “You still haven’t tried everything,” the father said. “Dad—I’ve tried everything!” “No, there’s still one more thing you haven’t tried.” “What haven’t I tried?” The father smiled. “You haven’t asked me for help.”

Ask Jesus to help you to see Him along the way. Ask God to give you the power to make Jesus Lord, not only in church, but when there are wrong exits, lost keys, and others’ failures. Ask Him as you live your life along the way.

Take home message: Focus. Be intentional. Follow the lordship of Jesus in everything. 2023 will be a successful year.

Start an evangelism conversation: “What do you find most attractive about Christianity/the person of Christ? What do you find least attractive about Christianity/the person of Christ?”