WHAT DO WE EXPECT JESUS TO DO WITH US?

Life has so many sticky wickets.  There are the ups and then the downs, the ins as well as the outs, and one must also factor in the sideways.  All of this says that we are necessarily going to need to pay attention to the unfolding of our days...and our years.  Our families cannot afford for us to go through life without measuring what to keep and what to discard so that we can become a better us.

Attention.  So many times I don't pay it.  I keep moving out of habit.  My ruts seem to give me guidance; thoughtless direction.  Life seems easier this way.  But easy isn't rut reality; laziness is.

Add to this concern the question of Jesus and his impact.  What do we expect him to do with, for, and through us that would not happen otherwise?  The answer is that we must anticipate that he will change us.

Looking back at my earlier days as a dad, I can see clearly (now) that I had set out to parent the way my dad did.  I wanted to be successful like he was.  I wanted to be liked by a host of friends as he was.  But, he also gave orders.  There was no room for discussion, question, nor consideration.  When he spoke that settled...everything.

So I took off being a responsible dad of three and I was a carbon copy of my dad; the dad that I liked and the dad that I resented in so many ways.  I was unyielding, unbending, and unfair.  But I was the dad and that's the way a dad does...so I thought.

Now it's weird.  While my dad had many good traits of which I also possess, I had become the next generation of some of the very things that distressed me most.  I had two options; continue the Rush trend (and, thus, pass along such traits to my kids so they could parent the same image), or change.  If I did not change, three children would grow into adults with parenting techniques precisely as mine which I got from my dad and (as I learned later) he got from my grandpa.

What we expect Jesus to do is to help us make strides of improvement.  I was faced with a serious matter by the time my kids were in Middle School to Jr. High.  I had to learn a new way.  My self-assured parental copying was not complete.  Some of my strong traits were good; others...not so much.

Jesus is our leader.  My job is to follow.  Barking orders to my kids would last awhile; but resentment was sure to follow.  I did not want this to happen.  My kids did not need to behave better until first they had a father who did.

This was a challenge for me.  For one, being a man meant I was right...so I assumed.  Yet...I was very wrong.  Jesus works with us to make adjustments.  We can't change others who wish to domineer or boss.  But we can change us (our methods and our dispositions) which will in turn positively affect our next generation.

Especially to men, I would encourage you to look at your Master instead of your family tradition.  Have the courage to filter the good from the ugly.  Face it.  Admit it.  And then do something about it.

What do we expect Jesus to do with us?  We expect him to change us.  From him we learn to yield instead of bark orders.  We learn to be tender instead of gruff.  We learn to stand upon solid ground; yet we do so with a love and gentleness of the Spirit rather than a closed mind which cannot ponder another way.

What do we expect Jesus to do with us?  We expect him to make us new day by day....which means a new kind and a new sort.  We believe Jesus will grow us to be of pliable minds and hearts where God could develop a terrific relationship...with His children.