Jesus' Invitation

You know, opening email or a trip to the mailbox, for me, it carries certain emotions. You know, there's some anxiety, there's some excitement. Sadly, most of the time in my mailbox, it's bills and advertisements I have no desire for whatsoever. Email, you never know what you're gonna get, but every now and then, you know, you get a personal letter, a personal message that's encouraging, or there's an invitation. Hey, we're having this gathering. We want you to come. And that's always encouraging to receive, an invitation. And I want us to be thinking about this today because we're looking at, I believe, Jesus's invitations. These stories come together. And I want to put before you that the greatest invitation you will ever receive, you're going to hear today. It's from Jesus Christ. And the invitation is, deny yourself. Carry your cross. Follow me. Deny yourself. Carry your cross. Follow me. It's an invitation away from ourselves, and our sin, and our corruption, and our death. And it's an invitation to Jesus. God's own Son. The God of perfect love. The God who gives eternal life. The God who gives hope. It's an invitation to God. So this is what we're looking at this morning. We're gonna first look at the children passage in the terms of how Jesus says we must come. We'll see a warning from the rich young man and the fear of what we hold onto that keeps us from coming. And then we'll consider the reward, verses 23 through 31. If you're new with us, we just walk through books of the Bible. Today is Palm Sunday. We're gonna be looking at Jesus' triumphal entry in a couple weeks. This morning we wanted to celebrate with the children in front of us so we could see and celebrate that particular event on the church calendar. But we're walking through the book of Mark. We are in chapter 10. That can be found on page 846 of your Pew Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please take that home with you. Let me read this section one more time. The heading here is, follow Jesus by faith. Follow Jesus by faith. Or to be more specific, like a child. And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. And when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, let the children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it. And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them. Now we do not know who's bringing the children. It's assumed that most likely it's parents. But when we see the people of this town, they've seen Jesus, His unique power, and they want Him to be touching their children, to bless that next generation. The word children here is pedia. It's the root for pediatrician. It really just marks a prepubescent child, someone who's still very young and dependent. Now this is a sweet picture of our Lord. He's welcoming. children. And our culture, our culture loves this picture. Because our culture has been informed by Jesus and the church to value children, but we need to realize something is going on here that may be beyond our own context. The children weren't valued in the same way in this culture. You will not see a high value in any writing of the first few centuries here of Judaism or of Christianity even. It took the church a long time to understand. Children who were not of working age were seen as a burden, not to be celebrated and rejoiced like we do today. You know, they didn't have a high value on children. And like our society, you know, we value children so much we have Peter Pan syndrome. We always want to be children. But as their culture, it's a low value. And this is why the disciples rebuke people for bringing children to Jesus. They're looking at it and saying, this is a waste of his time. These children, they have nothing to provide. They have nothing to contribute. Don't waste the master's time by bringing them children to bless them. And of course, their wrong action brings about a very teachable moment. The people are being rebuked by the disciples, just like the man who was rebuking Demons and casting out demons in Jesus name in previous chapters was rebuked by the disciples and Jesus corrected them Look at Jesus response verse 14 But when Jesus saw his disciples keeping children from coming to him he He was indignant. This word is rarely used. Usually we see Jesus full of compassion. And as we look at him, and with the children coming, we can assume he's, he's full of compassion and love and welcoming. But he sees the disciples being counterproductive in every way according to the kingdom. And he's indignant. He's angry. Now, if you're like me, I've oftentimes assumed Jesus says this passage, something like this, let the children come to me, do not hinder them, for such to them is the kingdom of God. No, it's more like my football coach voice. Do not hinder them. Let the little children come to me. My football coach voice could be more intense, but for today it's not helpful. But you understand that he's not speaking to the children, he's speaking to the disciples that he's just frustrated with, with indignation. How dare you keep those children, my children, he could say, as their creator, from coming to me for such belong the kingdom of God. Now, what does that mean for such belong to the kingdom of God? This is a very important teaching that he's actually going to heighten even more in verse 15. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child should not entrue it. There's something important about a child that Jesus is pressing in here to make a point. What makes a child so special or unique to be in a position that the kingdom of God is theirs? Some have said it's their innocence. I hope not. Because that means none of us can come. That everything is counterproductive, counterintuitive. The whole teaching of the Gospel that, that Jesus has come to seek sinners. Not, not the innocent. He's come to help those who actually need help. He's come to heal the sick. If we're going to come to Jesus, it's got to be right out of the womb. Someone said it's a naivety or a lacking of understanding. The whole point of this great disciple discourse is so they would actually see and understand and know the truth of the gospel. It isn't their lack of knowledge. Again, that's contrary to everything else Christ teaches. Maybe these children are special. Maybe he's welcomed them because they're born to believing parents. There doesn't seem to be anything in the scriptures that point to this being what's so significant. I think it's the fact that their children, they're helpless. They're dependent. They don't really have anything to contribute when they come. I think even more to the point is, they're receptive and they're trusting. For example, We eat dinner regularly at my home. Every time we invite people to dinner at my home, my children, they know they, well, they should come. And we've never not provided dinner when we've said, come to dinner. We never put a rock on the table. Here's your dinner. After some time, they understand good parents are going to give good gifts, and dinner is a significant moment in our family. It's actually been so fantastic that our two-year-old, she now, when she hears the word dinner, runs up into her chair and buckles herself in. It's adorable. We didn't teach her that. But she just loves dinner. And she's come to expect, receptively entrusting, that when these people say dinner, I'm going to get noodles, pretty much, all we can feed her. There's that receptivity. I hear a good word. I know it's coming from somebody who intends my good. I'm going to believe it. I'm going to trust it. That they have nothing to contribute whatsoever, but that they're coming dependent and receptive to whatever he would say. He makes the point, More clear in verse 15. Truly. Is that the same word for amen? Get your attention kind of declaration? Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom like a child, shun it. We don't come boasting with what we bring. We come repenting of sin and believing. I mean, this was the most basic teaching all the way back from Mark 115. He came to proclaim the kingdom of God as a hand. Repent and believe. We don't come innocent, we come repentant. We do not come boasting, we come believing. And you recognize Christ, His inviting us to come to Him, trusting what He says is true. Two points that I want to highlight as we meditate upon this passage. The value of children and the value of faith. First, we want to make sure we understand Jesus' teaching here. Children are valuable. And for us, this may not, you know, that may not be something new. I hope not. But he's teaching the disciples they're valuable. He's actually giving them a worldview correction. He's trying to bring about a transvaluation. They were seeing the children as not worth his time, and he's trying to tell them no, for such as these are the kingdom. You can tell a lot about a culture based upon how it treats its children. China. has aborted most of its females because they didn't value the life and value of how God created us, male and female. They're running into a significant problem now because of that horrible mistake in policy. A little closer to home, America, we average just under one million abortions a year. 19% of pregnancies and an abortion. We're drawing close to 60 million abortions since it was legalized in 1973. For a little perspective, six million Jews died in the Holocaust, 17 million total from the Nazi persecution. We have murdered 60 million helpless babies. How we treat our children says a lot about us. I want to pray, God bless America, but to do so while we're murdering His infants. To meditate on that passage in Matthew 2, when Jesus, as a young child, has to flee because Herod wants to murder all the two-year-olds and younger, and there's that declaration, Rebekah weeps with loud lamentation for her children. She refuses to be comforted because they are no more. I believe our actions as a nation should lead us to proper lamentation, church. Let's look a little closer at home. The Houston Chronicle just reported a few months ago that there are 700 confirmed incidents of sexual misconduct against children while they were participating in activities connected to Southern Baptist churches. Now, there are 46,000 Southern Baptist churches. There's only 700 incidents confirmed. What's terrifying is there's so many more that have not been reported and not been confirmed. This terrifies me. It truly does. This kind of behavior and how a wolf or a snake can slither into this safe environment and take advantage of it. You see, that's why we lock the doors during the service. That's why we have a man patrolling the halls. That's why we probably should think about putting cameras in the children's rooms to make sure that there's complete protection and safety at all times. We need to be mindful of our children and protecting them while they're here in this place. This is supposed to feel somewhat like home. It needs to be safe. Let's go a little further. I want to charge us today, church, to consider that our children are our clearest calling in ministry. You see all the kids running around after the service and before the service, the kids that are standing up here before you? That's the future of the church. Here or elsewhere. What our faithfulness is actually going to be determined, we'll see the fruit of our faithfulness in terms of 10 to 20 years, what are those children professing and doing? Right? It's a long view of ministry. Let's be very clear. Hypocrisy hinders children from coming to Christ. Hypocrisy in the home. Hypocrisy in the church. I ask, what do the children see? What kind of priorities do the children see us making and keeping? What do they hear? Is it slander and tearing down? Or is it praise and building up? Is it faithfulness in our words? Who do they know? I'm not going to speak for all the parents here, but I want my children to know more than just my wife and I. I want my children to know you as spiritual grandparents and spiritual uncles and aunties and to feel the love of the church, to have a pen pile, to know someone else when they come, they're eager to see them. Not their peers, other professing adults. So what can you do? As always, there's a plug to serve in the nursery. But let's turn that around. How about we think about that as loving and receiving children? Is there a sweeter moment to be like Jesus to a child than in the nursery when you get to hold them, play with them, and pray for them and their siblings and their parents? Is there a more precious Jesus moment you can have? Let's not fill in the gap that we need for nursery. We can think about that as a way, here's an hour I get to just love on a child and pray for them, their spouse, their salvation, their brothers, their sisters, their parents. What a sweet moment of just prayer time. That's Sunday school. We prioritize this as a time to spend with the children, to teach them and train them up in the most basic truths of the gospel. I wanna point out there's two important ministries that God has blessed us with here. There's the children that are here on Sunday morning, and there's the children who come on Tuesday and Thursday night. If you wanna be on the front lines of what God is doing at Jefferson Park Baptist Church, it's those children. It's children coming who may not come to church oftentimes on Tuesday and Thursday nights. Children who are here with us at church. But that's the future. That's the investment. And I'll be honest, it doesn't always feel immediately rewarding. But as we'll see later, the Christian life is not about immediate gratification. It's about heavenly rewards. prayerfully consider, is your heart and mind and actions aligned with Jesus and his desire to see children come to him? And is there ways that you can help participate in those things? The main point of the teaching, again, he uses this kind of disagreement with the disciples. He uses this situation to bring about a clear point You must come to Jesus like a child. Little, not powerful, in need of help. You don't come puffed up. You come saying, I need help. This is where, especially, there's a lot of very competent and accomplished people here. Praise God for that. But competence and accomplishment is actually a hindrance in faith sometimes. When we think we're coming, we're bringing to God what we have? Let me be very clear, we do bring to Jesus what we have, and then he dies for it, and gives us grace to be forgiven for it, and then he washes us and gives us Holy Spirit so that we actually have a new gift. Are we coming, receiving Jesus, and trusting him? Let's look at verse 16 as we conclude this passage. and He took them in His arms and blessed them, laying His hands on them." That's how Jesus receives us. A full, loving embrace. This is how Jesus receives His people. It's not halfway. It's not with a stiff arm. If you're coming to me with the kind of faith that's repenting and believing and trusting, it's a sweet picture that we can capture. He blesses and lays his hands and embraces us. Let's look at our next section, which is still continuing an invitation teaching. Follow Jesus by denying yourself. Follow Jesus by denying yourself. And he was setting out on his journey. A man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, good teacher, what must i do to inherit eternal life now finally somebody's asking the right question author of mark we've got a lot of really bad questions from the disciples and now it's done this guy he he runs up he kneels before jesus is as well as i do to inherit your life now now this is a it comes out of nowhere we don't know who this man is so that he's wealthy It is odd that he's, he's running and kneeling as a wealthy man. Not his normal action and posture most likely. And then he cries out, good teacher. Good teacher. What must I do to inherit eternal life? He recognizes something about Jesus that he has More knowledge, authority, and power. Now when he says eternal life, we can see in the passage, verse 21, this is related to heavenly treasure, and it's also, verse 23, related to kingdom of God. How do I get the blessed life of God? How do I live forever in God's presence and joy? Notice what Jesus begins with. Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. Now this passage has stumped some. Is God denying, is Jesus denying that he's God here because of this kind of interaction? Well I believe we have so many affirmations that Jesus receives worship as if God in Matthew 28. Jesus identifies himself. I and the Father are one. There's so many other clear affirmations that he's God. He is not denying he is the one good God. What I believe he's doing here is making the point clear, if you're going to come and call me good, are you ready to receive the instruction I have for you as good? I believe this rich young man, unlike a child, overvalues himself and will not be ready to receive what is good. Jesus is pressing in. The whole entire episode hinges upon Jesus being the good God who will say things that are hard, but they're still good to be received. Jesus then tells him, Verse 19, you know the commandments. Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, do not defraud, honor your father and mother. Now most of these are 10 commandments. And notice how the man responds, and in his response, I'm a little befuddled by, teacher, you can hear the confidence, right? Teacher, all of these I have kept from my youth. I really do wrestle with what's going on here. Maybe he's a good boy. Maybe as he's asked the question, what do I need to do? He's really been a good boy. Or maybe his parents would roll his eyes right here. Really? Ever since your youth, the entire time you honored us? Maybe we're seeing a little bit of insight that he still doesn't get the first thing Jesus wanted to press in. What is really good? And what does it mean to be good? And how you're not. I think we see a challenge necessary. Oh Jesus' response. Verse 21. He could. Remember, Jesus could go back and say, well, it's not your actions that defile you. It's what comes from your heart. It's when you've lusted. That's what causes you to be guilty of adultery. It's your anger. That's what causes you to be guilty of murder. He could go through and prove to him all these things, but instead, he looks at him. This is a glorious truth. Jesus sees you. There's a direct looking at. And notice, He loved him. Jesus looks. He loves. He desires this man's good. So He tells him, you lack one thing. Go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow Me." After this intense looking, he sees Him. He sees Him as He is. He still loves Him. That's our Lord and Savior. And He gives them the instruction. You've asked what you need to do. Here's what you need to do. Take what you love most and give it to those you find unlovely. be very clear what Jesus is doing here. He's not teaching works righteousness. He's not telling the men you need to clean up yourself and make sure that you're as pure as possible and then I'll receive you. No, he's saying if you want to come to me, your love is gonna have to be bent away from the things you really love and to me. You're gonna have to stop trusting in your wealth so that you can trust me. He's inviting him to himself, but that means he has to stop loving the idols that have kept him for so many years. Really what Jesus is doing is spiritual surgery. Right? This is the fine scalpel of Jesus's pastoral care. He could have gone generic, like I said earlier, and talked about all the different ways he's actually sinned in so many times, but he just says there's one thing. I want to talk about one thing. I want to bring it down, and let's get tunnel vision. Let's think about this one problem. Here's how you're going to need to repent to have faith. that this is the way I see you as God himself would see. I see your sin. I see your primary idol. And you have to repent in order to have faith. It's important to understand Jesus doing spiritual surgery on this young rich man when he looks at him and he loves him. This is not a command for all Christians at all times. This is not a command for all Christians at all times. But this is important for us to recognize how we relate to Jesus. We should want Him to do this kind of spiritual surgery on us. Jesus, what's the one thing that's keeping me from really loving you and enjoying you today? What's the thing that so easily entangles me? What would you have me give up so that I might love you and follow you and inherit eternal life? That this is wonderful spiritual surgery that should be welcomed. And let's just be honest, there are so many warnings in Scripture about money. Money might be a problem. 1 Timothy 6.10 says it's the root of all kinds of evil. Greed, coveting, theft, pride. We have to ask, what do we treasure? There's so many warnings about storing up things on this earth that are gonna be rusted and moth-eaten, versus storing up treasures in heaven. We do need to take seriously the charge about money, but I'll be very clear, we should be asking most of all, Jesus, do this kind of heart surgery on me. Look at me and love me by telling me what I need to give up to know you and your love. Finally, what he's doing is he's inviting this man to himself. Come, follow me. Really, we see here the most basic truths. Deny yourself. Give up the treasure you have. Carry your cross. That is gonna be a burden. Follow me. Jesus is saying, I'm more valuable. Jesus is saying, I will be more satisfying. Jesus is saying, I am better than what you've accumulated for yourself. You cannot love me and your own treasure. Treasure me. Love the Lord your God with all your heart. This is a loving invitation. God is inviting him to himself. Look at the man's response, verse 22. disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, long-faced, for he had great possessions. He did not come like a child, did he? He came with his accomplishments, his competence, and he wanted to know what to do, but when Jesus actually put it in his terms what to do, he could not do it. He loved his money too much. It's a horribly sad story. A man comes asking the right question, God gives him a good answer, and he cannot comply. He walks away disheartened. He had too much money to give away. It reminded me of a story a pastor was telling me once. He lived in Baltimore, and I guess one of the ravens went to this church. And the Raven, he must have just gotten a big salary, you know, contract. And the pastor's talking to him, and the fellow, the football player was sharing how, you know, he just couldn't imagine tithing that much money. So the pastor put his hand on his shoulder and said, well, let's pray. Lord, would you bless this man with a contract small enough to where he would feel comfortable tithing the appropriate amount of money. He quickly repented. Recognizing the spiritual powers are not one to be played with, nor this man's wits." Think about it. How much money is enough? How much money is enough? How much do we need to accumulate? Money, money is not the problem. You know, we're going to think about rich a lot in the next section as well. Money is not the problem. God gives good gifts. God gives wealth. God gives riches. God gives the things we need. It's the way we take them and use them for selfish ends rather than steward. The invitation is to get out of the muck you've made out of how you love money and to come to me who can set you right. We see he does not come like a child, and therefore he does not come at all. The rich man does not come like a child, therefore he does not come at all. Let's look at our third section. Follow Jesus for the reward. Verse 23. Again, we have a teachable moment from our Lord and Savior. Jesus looked around and said to the disciples, How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God. Exclamation point. Now, the immediate context points to wealth being a hindrance, because you're supposed to come like a child with dependence. But what we see here, he's pointing out there's a difficulty with those who have wealth into the kingdom of God. We've just seen this man who had wealth. He couldn't give it up. He leaves his heart in because he has great possessions. The disciples were amazed at his words. Okay, we're gonna keep building up here, but Jesus said to them again, in case you didn't get it the first time, if you're amazed by the first saying, let me make it very clear. Children, different word than before, this is a generic word for child. Children, my students, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God. Just period. Let's take away the qualifiers, just how difficult it is. It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Now, we need to do some explaining about the camel and the eye of the needle. In the Middle Ages, they named a gate the eye of the needle. There was no eye of the needle at the time of Jesus. That would be anachronistic. against time. So some Christians later named a gate Eye of the Needle. That caused lots of confusion. He is not actually speaking of a camel where it would be difficult to go through this gate. No. What Jesus, I believe, is doing is referencing the largest thing they know of, a camel, and the smallest opening, the Eye of the Needle. It's impossible. That's the point. It's not that it's difficult. It's impossible. You cannot fit a camel, a large beast, through the smallest opening. The point is, it's impossible. Verse 28, notice the disciples. They go from being amazed to, verse 26, they're exceedingly astonished, and say to Him, Then who can be saved? Now, that's an interesting step in the dialogue. And that needs some explanation as well. If the rich can't be saved, then who can be saved? In this culture, and not wrongly, they looked at the rich as those who were closest to God. Because God blessed them with riches. If you go back through the Bible, you see Noah. Abraham, Isaac, David, many key figures of the Old Testament, their wealth is a gift from God and it shows his blessing. And they look around and they say, well, if the rich who are blessed by God, if they can't enter it, who could? They already have this special relationship with God. What about us fishermen? We'll never get in. Jesus confirms, with man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God. That's your memory verse for today. That's the core teaching. I have nothing to come with to God that helps me Get saved. I have to come like a child. It's impossible for me to come and contribute anything beyond the sin that I'm getting forgiven for. It's impossible for me to do something that makes me lovable. It's impossible for me to do something that takes away my sin. But, not with God. That conjunction. But God is the one you just cling to. It changes lives and eternities. With us it's impossible, but not with God. All things are possible with God. As we think about this a little bit more, I do want to, I feel the need to point out something. When we're talking about rich, I look around in our room and I just want to challenge you that most of us, if not all of us, really should identify as rich. I realized we could look around and we could figure out, okay, who has more money than me, and how do I feel about my life, my wealth, and we have the lower class, middle class, upper class of American society, but when it comes to the way they understood rich and poor in this culture, and the way that most of the world would understand rich and poor, if you're not worried about how you're going to get a meal after the service, If you really worry about where your meal's coming from, if you really worry about where your head's going to lie on a pillow with shelter, you're rich. You really have to go without. We have to just kind of just recognize we're rich. This country has been blessed in many ways in physical abundance and most of us live good lives. We have internet at our homes for all our devices. Luxury. We're rich. That means we can tend to be self-reliant. That means we can tend to want to store up our treasures. It means there might be a difficulty with us coming like a child. that there's supposed to be this glorious moment of despair, then who can be saved? And this is where we look, and we see Jesus on the cross, dying for our sins, rising again, and saying, come to me as a sinner confessing sin, and I will receive you. If you come to him, boasting of competence and accomplish, he opposes the proud, but receives the humble. Verse 28. Here we go. Peter speaks. We know something good's about to happen. And remember, Peter is speaking on behalf of the disciples. He's the guy who's willing to say what other people are thinking, or at least he thinks other people are thinking. See, Peter says, we have left everything and followed you. There's just nothing like religious boasting, huh? I mean, that, some of it's true, but he's trying to tell Jesus what he's done for him. That's, that's not the right posture. Peter isn't getting it, yet. Verse 29. Truly, again, I say to you, amen. I want you to draw your attention to this truth. There is no one who has left house, or brother, or sister, or mother, or father, or children, or lands. All the things that would make you feel secure. We're all transient people here. It's rare you find a Charlottesvillian. It's rare that you would leave your home because of how much stability you need from parents and the land you grew up on in this culture. But he says anyone who would leave these things that would provide the kind of security you are used to in your life, and notice the key qualifier, leaving those things for my sake and for the gospel. Whatever you think you're giving up for my sake, you will receive a hundredfold. There's a promise. There's really just a truth claim right here. Come to me. I'm more valuable than what you could possibly value in this world. I'm more secure than any security you can build in this world. I am more loving than the parents who love you in this world. I am greater than whatever you think you need in this world. And if you come after me, it will be better. I will be your reward, Jesus says. That's a grand truth claim. and a fantastic promise to be believed and acted upon. The key is, for my sake, for my gospel, it's an invitation to himself. It's not a matter of, I'm gonna see how much I deny myself to see how great of a Christian I can become. Seeing Jesus rightly more great than anything else we're clinging to. Seeing Jesus as more worthy than anything else we could ever believe, or desire, or, or store up for ourselves. Do we really believe Jesus is better? Do we really believe there's a heaven coming? An eternal life to come? Where there's a reward for how we live faithfully in this Christian life? Does it affect how we actually live in this world? Let's look at verse 31. Here we have, I believe, what must have been a regular teaching of Jesus because it comes up so often. We don't have all of Jesus' teaching, but we have high points and things that were repeated, and those things are repeated among the repetitions. Must have been central. But many who are first will be last and last first. He used similar language back in Mark 9, 35, when the disciples were all arguing, hey, who's the greatest among us? Jesus said, you got it wrong, guys. It's not who gets to sit in the right seat or position. It's, it's who serves the most. Jesus is bringing about a transvaluation, helping them see the way they're supposed to live. The first shall be last and servant of all. Now he redefines greatness back in Mark 9. Here he's using it a similar way. The first shall be last. Meaning, willing to give up everything for the sake of Christ. Willing to not cling to what makes me great in this world. Willing to be selfless in order to be blessed in Christ. We come to God contributing nothing. He gives all. We then live from God, giving Him all that we have. This teaching, First will be last. That's counterintuitive to the way we think and live. But only very clear, that is right side up living. The first shall be last is right side up living. This is God himself teaching us the way it's supposed to be. He's trying to get us from being so backwardly selfish. from being so focused on ourselves and our kingdoms that we would actually repent and learn how to live with different kinds of values that make worldview change. As we conclude our questions, who is Jesus? He's a good God to be trusted. He's a good God who looks at us, who knows us, and loves us. and does what we need to, to help us love Him more if we repent and believe. He helps us see our sins so we would repent and trust Him. Who is Jesus? He's, He's more valuable. Those are the gods that we cling to. What about us? What do we do? Ask Jesus. How do I follow you? Help me know how to follow you more faithfully so that I can rejoice in you more fully. No matter what. Now this is dangerous. Let me make this very clear. This can be dangerous. If you go home and pray, Jesus, I, I must know you. I want to follow you closer. I want to follow you for the first time. Point out what that sin is that's keeping me from knowing you and loving and rejoicing you. It's gonna be hard because he's gonna point out something you love instead of him. And it's worth it to repent so that you would know him more. Leave behind all the sin that destroys you. Cling to Him who gives you new life. Let's take a moment to reflect upon the Gospel.