What Are You Here For?

And Jesus said unto him, ¨Friend, wherefore art thou come?¨ Then came they and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.  Matthew 26:50 (KJV)

Have you ever wondered if Jesus has asked that question of us?

Many people come to Jesus each and every day.  Some even go up to Him with the sweetest kiss.  Jesus receives them all with the same word, ¨Friend.¨  But just as Jesus saw into the heart and intentions of Judas, He sees clearly into our own hearts and intentions.What is it that really brings us to Jesus? Is He really someone worth coming to, or do we follow a crowd because it seems like the thing to do?  Judas did that. Are we like him?

Why do we need Jesus?  Is there some place in our heart that cannot function or continue one more moment without Him?  Or are we self-sufficient and can decide for ourselves what we need and what is good for us?  Judas thought He was able to decipher His own path.

What do we get from coming to Christ?  Do we get out of our predicaments or assure ourselves of a comfortable or lucrative arrangement for ourselves?  Is God just the highest source for us to go to get what we want?  Has He become a Santa Claus to us?  Judas made the mistake of using his relationship to the Lord for his own gain.

Who do you think you are coming to the Son of the Almighty?  Do you think you are better than the rest because you outwitted them by correctly interpreting things and therefore have more right to the blessings and gifts of God?  Do you come to Him because you want to be special and a part of an elite group?  Judas once formed part of the twelve.

Jesus may call us friend, but He does see clearly the intentions and the state of our hearts.  We are all individually susceptible to all kind of deviations of interest.  It is important to remember that Jesus is real and He is infinitely bigger than our puny world.  He is greater than our understanding of Him.  He is more grand than our incredibly huge universe and unfathomably immense distances and sizes.  He is more intelligent and creative that our microscopes and computers can discover.

More importantly, He has directed Himself to us.  He has done a lot for us.  He has called us to go past all our limitations and deviations.  He wants us to press on, right into His presence.  He wants us to be one of those who want to be with Him for who He is.  Not all the people who have been in the presence of the Divine have worked hard to remain there with Him.  Satan and Judas are good examples of that.  But friend, there can be nothing better than being with Jesus!

We should each do anything we can to be with our Savior.  But we need to go to Him and lay out our intentions.  He sees them anyway, but it would work wonders for us to do this often.  Bring the question to Him, why you are coming.  He will show you if your heart is trying to deceive you and you come in all earnestness.

Dear Jesus, we too approach You today.  We would ask You to show us if our intentions are pure.  We need to know now, while there is time to do something about it, if there is some part of us which has turned to selfish reasons.  Please heal us of any tendencies to come to You for lesser reasons because in the end it is not You we are seeking.  Then, lift us up to be with You and to enjoy You because our hearts burn for You and need You alone.

Amen