Do You TRULY Want Life Change?

In most of my posts, I take my time in leading you to a question, an idea, or a problem we all deal with. Today, I will start with a tough question right off the bat. Do you truly want life change from Jesus or do you simply want to be part of the crowd around Him? Don’t answer too quickly – think about it for a minute.

Seeking Life Change

As you are thinking about your answer to that question, let me show you a Scripture passage that I believe will help us highlight the difference between simply being in the crowd are found Jesus and actually seeking Him earnestly. Take a moment and read Mark 5:21-34 below.

When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him while He was by the sea. One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at His feet and kept begging Him, “My little daughter is at death’s door. Come and lay Your hands on her so she can get well and live.”

So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against Him. A woman suffering from bleeding for 12 years had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.

Having heard about Jesus, she came behind Him in the crowd and touched His robe. For she said, “If I can just touch His robes, I’ll be made well!” Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was cured of her affliction.

At once Jesus realized in Himself that power had gone out from Him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My robes?”

His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing against You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”

So He was looking around to see who had done this. Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came with fear and trembling, fell down before Him, and told Him the whole truth. “Daughter,” He said to her, “your faith has made you well. Go in peace and be free from your affliction.”

Pushing Through The Crowd

In this passage, people are all around Jesus, following Him and waiting to see what miracle He will perform next. They are pressing against Him and crowding Him. I know you can picture the scene.

That’s when a woman pushes through, reaches out, and touches His robe. He instantly feels this touch as being completely different from the others. He turns and asks who touched Him. Of course, the disciples think He is silly for asking, but Jesus knew the difference in her touch. He knew what she was after – life change!

Today’s Christian Crowd

I could spend the majority of this post breaking down this event, her background, and all that it took for her to push through the crowd to touch Jesus. I could describe how every other member of the crowd had the same opportunity for life change as she did, but chose instead to watch. While I think there is certainly some value in doing that, in the interest of time and space, I will cut to the chase and apply it to our lives as Christians in business.

If you stop and look around in the business world, depending on where you are located, you might know of many Christians in business. You can probably name many of your fellow church members and the business they are in. The truth is that being or finding a Christian in business is not a rare occurrence. In fact, you could probably say that there is a “crowd” of them.

The rare event is to find one that is unabashedly running their business in a way that honors Jesus AND places His purposes as their main goals. Does this describe you?

What About You?

The question here is this – when you were reading the passage above, did you picture yourself as someone in the crowd following Jesus and waiting to see His next miracle OR did you see yourself as forcing yourself through the crowd so that His next miracle would INVOLVE you?

Folks, our country (U.S.) is certainly not drawing closer to God or progressively making it any easier to be a Christian – in business or not. At the same time, it could be a lot worse! We do not face near the persecution that our Christian brothers and sisters face worldwide.

So, in truth, it is still VERY easy to be in the crowd “around Jesus” these days. As business owners and leaders, we will certainly be challenged and criticized for our faith if we take it to the next level, but what is our alternative? Stay in the crowd? Leave the experience of life change to those bold few that press in to actually touch Jesus with a purpose?

Move!

I will tell you what I think. I think it is time we stop drifting with the crowd around Jesus and start pressing in to touch Him. We need to seek Him in a way that gets His attention like the woman did. We need to set aside our comfort, our fears, and our distractions. He is waiting for us to move!

What does this look like in our business setting? Great question! The truth? I have NO IDEA what that looks like – for you!

Start Here!

That’s right! What I am talking about is digging deep personally in your walk with Jesus. Step up your desire to spend time with Him and in His Word. Rekindle your prayer life and don’t stop until He turns toward you in a real way!

If you will start here, I promise He will show you the rest of the path. He will show you what living out His desires for you looks like in your business. Until you connect with Him the way the woman did above, all you will be doing is drifting with the crowd. That is NOT where you want to be!

Discussion Question: What is the next action you need to take?

photo by Ant Jackson