There is a common saying around the world that means much more than the two words it says. It is about acceptance and it can be very misleading to some of us. Accepting a gift is pleasant as it also is getting a package from the brown truck. They could be one in the same as well! You must, of course open the door and let the package into your home. If you are not at home, the gift will be left on your doorstep. Maybe.

The thing I am referring to is the common phrase, Accepting Christ. It is usually a cause for celebration by both the recipient and family. But what does the phrase imply? Is it just like opening your door to have a package of renown given to you? It would seem the phrase would indicate that someone finally made up their mind to indeed open their door and receive a Man. It seems so simple, but what does it really mean to us?

I like the phrase, ‘Accepting the Word’ It means so much more and it doesn’t mean an instantaneous change and a new person that almost glows. Of course, there can be immediate change, but at times nothing really seems to change in us. It can be world shaking as it was for Norm! He had been seeking some answers to questions he had. The big ones. “Who made the universe and why? Why is the world such an awful place at times? Why do I think and do things that I know are wrong?” The philosopher Descartes got right to the point. I have a mind. Then why do I think about God? Why is that thought even in my mind?

Questions that we all ponder and pontificate on. We all have ideas to answer those queries as well. As was said by one of the wisest men known: “ Those who are given over to preconceived ideas are forced to defend what they cannot prove” Cicero 36 BC. We cannot prove big answers but some try with science and theory. Evolution is one of the greatest children’s stories ever expounded upon. It has entertaining value, much akin to science fiction classics. We evolved a brain with more synapses’ than there are stars in the Milky Way? Ben Carson pointed to that evolutionary absurdity.

We have all heard them from some pretty smart guys. The know facts but they do not know truth. They are brilliant scientists and tell us that a big firecracker exploded a few millennia ago (the big bang) and all we know and see came of it. The new question which has not been answered is where did the firecracker come from and who lit the fuse? The only thing they really can say is the fact the universe exists and how incredible and eternal it is. Big numbers, speculation and scientific analysis. Jaw dropping distances and sizes.

All those questions can be answered within the pages of one very old book. You most likely have heard of it and probably have one. You can find one easily, even in drawers in hotels! It starts “In the beginning” which indicates that time started then which is incomprehensible to us but we read on, and it starts to make sense. A lot of sense. It states that at that exact beginning moment, God created the building blocks of the universe. Then He made us to enjoy Him and His incredible creation. He really enjoys us more than we can imagine. Further into the book it states: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and Word was God. All the scholars and teachers that Jack has met agree on the description of Jesus as ‘the Word’ That makes sense too fter a while of study. A lot of reading starts with the above questions.

God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. All of the three God and separate as well. I know what you are thinking. If you are anything else than a Christian, then it doesn’t make sense. If you are a Christian it doesn’t make sense at times either. Ask someone in your circle of friends to talk about it with you. Dig and keep asking questions. Be unrelenting in your pursuit of God and knowledge of Him.

Read and then study in ‘the word’ (Bible) coupled with some pretty savvy authors. My all time favorite for the tough questions is C.S.Lewis and his seminal magnum opus, ‘Mere Christianity’ You might have read or seen the movie of his book, Chronicles of Narnia. (That work is a wonderful primer for Mere Christianity.) Read Mere Christianity a few times and then put it down for a while and then read it again. And later, when looking for some ‘light’ reading, read it again.

There was a group of scholars from Berea (modern day Greece) that studied like I am asking you to do. So perhaps another way of saying the tremendous realization of ‘accepting Christ’, would be following Him and studying Him. It’s nice to read about real things. There are thousands of manuscripts that authenticate these stories. Incidentally, there are only six known manuscripts that authenticate Homer’s Odessy. Only a dozen or so that authenticate Islam. Facts and history. The more copies to compare with the other copies the better, right? Maps of our world and events. Some folks even deny obvious truths such as the world being round and the existence of California (the term existence is variable in this case)

The best time is to talk to Jesus is right now. He is delighted to talk with you. He is eternal and can be your intimate best friend forever. The description Norm likes is ‘Become best friends with Jesus’ The hard part is not to think it out and be quiet with our very limited comprehension of truth and friendship.

One of my all time favorite stories that goes back a ‘few’ years ago (centuries) is from the desert fathers. I probably have quoted this in a previous post, but it bears repeating:

One seeker of truth visits Father Anthony and asks him; “when is the Messiah coming? Anthony answers; “why not ask Him yourself? He’s out by the city gate healing people” Later on the seeker comes back and says; “He lied to me, He said he was coming today and He isn’t here” Father Anthony laughs and says; “He didn’t say He was coming today, He said listen!”

Think about that for a while and when you are ready, just sit down, ignore all those thoughts we fill our minds with, and listen for His quiet and perfect voice. Listening, a hard thing to do at any time amidst all our clutter of words. The answers we immediately cannot wait to speak when other people speak to us. Listen, and let it go in deep. If He asks us to do something, anything at all, don’t think about it but act. The reward of joy is in listening to Him. He is indeed nearby, healing people. He will heal you too, healed in ways we cannot begin to comprehend.

It’s pretty good. Jack Gator