Coming Out All Over

The minute I read it, I was convicted.

The story was about a little boy who attended an evangelistic “revival” meeting.  He went up to the evangelist after the preaching with this question, “You said everyone should ask Jesus into their hearts, right?”                                                                                                                                       “That’s right son”, the evangelist replied getting right down on eye level to talk to the boy.  “Did you ask Him in?”                                                                                                                                                           “Well, I’d like to,” the boy said, as he shuffled his feet in the dirt. Making eye contact again with the evangelist he said, “But I got to figurin’….I’m so little and Jesus is so big – He’s gonna stick out all over!”                                                                                                                                                               Smiling, the evangelist responded to the boy, “That’s the point, son, that the point.”

It’s fairly common “Christianese” to talk about Jesus coming into our hearts upon our salvation.  Jesus said, “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.” (John 14:20, also see 14:23) In other places in scripture we learn that His Holy Spirit is within each believer (John 14:17) and His word is to fill our hearts and our minds (Luke 8:15, Psalm 119:11).

With all that Jesus in us, He should be coming out all over! Why aren’t people seeing Jesus coming out from all  over me? Why am I not seeing Jesus come out of all the believers I know? Don’t get me wrong, I must say that there are some people I know who do “ooze” Jesus. It is not the majority.

What is getting in the way? How can we change it so that others see Him in us and coming out of us? It may seem simplistic but the truth is that we (me included, I’m afraid) have prioritized the things of the world over the things of the Lord.

John, the Apostle, wrote a letter warning Christians of his day that many who claim Christ are not really His followers. He wanted them to be ready to examine their faith to see whether or not it was genuine faith in Christ. He wanted them to understand that a follower of Christ’s would show evidence of their faith in the way they lived. He admonishes us to love God the Father and His Son, Jesus, more than we love the world.

In 1 John 2:15-16 he says this, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions–is not from the Father but is from the world.”

Most Christians would say that what we want comes only from the Father. The way we act says we are far more fond of the world. We are more concerned for our own success than God’s glory. We care more about what people think of us than what they think of God. We are quick to cover our own mistakes and slow to defend what others see as mistakes on God’s part (He makes no mistakes). We are slower to forgive others when we perceive a slight than we are to remember God’s forgiveness of us when we slight Him.

I am afraid for many of us the only thing coming out all over is our pride and our desires to be comfortable in this world.  What I want to come out is the Word of God, the thankfulness that flows from a grateful heart for all He has done for me, and the love for others that He has shown for me – and I want them to come out all over so that the One who is over all will be glorified in my thoughts, my words, and my actions.

How about you, is Jesus coming out all over you?