Close Enough?

I had the great opportunity this past Friday, Good Friday in fact, to share the story of Jesus' Last Supper. As part of the children's ministry at my church, we hosted a Good Friday activity for children and their families. We divided the events of Holy Week into four stations and mine was the Last Supper. I stood with thirteen awesome teen-aged boys, all donning robes, head covers, bare feet, and their best Disciple demeanor. One guy depicted Jesus and twelve others his Disciples, as together we shared with hundreds of kids and adults alike why that Friday was so good.

For an hour and a half we shared the story over and over again as lots of bright eyes watched the Disciples receive Jesus' gifts of service through feet washing, sharing bread and wine, and learning all the beautiful symbolism within that event. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity, after each retelling, to invite anyone up to ask questions of either myself or any of the disciples. Over the course of the evening, several curious children and adults shared their questions and a few offered their thoughts too.

Towards the end of the evening a young mother approached me and said she wanted to tell me something. I said sure, I'd love to hear it. She began by saying that after her three year old daughter heard the story of Jesus' Last Supper, she was quite interested in talking about it with their family. So, she began asking her daughter a few questions, to see just how much of the story she captured. She was happy to hear how much of the story she correctly recalled and decided to go a little deeper, asking her daughter if she remembers what the Bible calls Jesus' twelve best friends. The daughter paused and thoughtfully considered her answer then proudly said, "Deciders...they are Jesus' Deciders!" This proud mom giggled as she shared this with me and said she though that was pretty cute and close enough. I smiled and told her that yes, great job, that's very close for a three year old!

As our activity came to a close and I began to walk back to our sanctuary for services, a thought struck me. That little girl may have been closer than she knows...
Jesus' Disciples, just like you and me, and everyone else on this planet are in fact, 'Deciders'. Each of us has the opportunity to decide whether we want to live our life in a way that brings life or brings death. So, this means a decision must be made...we must in fact be a 'Decider'. 

Decide, just as the Disciples did, to stop relying on ourselves to get it right and believe and accept Jesus as the one true God who came to earth and willingly died for us. Died so we would stop living in a way that brings us closer to death (sin). Died to show us that if we accept his unconditional love gift, we too will experience a Resurrection. Resurrection into a life of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. 

Are you a 'Decider' or are you just close enough? How about making the decision this day, this Easter Sunday, to be a Disciple. A Disciple that receives Jesus' gift of love, follows His commandments, and shares them with others. 
Count-Me-In!

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