Rise

Written by Jason Haines

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” -John 11:25-26

We are coming upon Easter weekend to celebrate the time when God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ, was crucified at the cross. He died for our sins and to save us all, but do we all fully understand to whole story of Jesus and what he has meant to us and this world? What he has meant in the past and what he means now to all who strive to lead like him, be like him, and those who have also not found him yet? While I am still learning more about the greatness of Jesus, because I am imperfect and have an imperfect past, and his leadership amongst the people of the world, he meant so much to all people and not just the righteous among us.

So, what was Jesus looking for when he was put on this earth to help? Was he brought here to change us, was he brought here to show us a better way of doing things, or was he just brought here to see why we were not living up to the ways that he had envisioned for all of us? These are a few things that we all need to answer throughout our own lives in the destiny’s that we are to fulfill. Many people have answered these questions, and many have failed to answer and see their own purpose in life, but God want’s us all to be great and fulfill our need on earth while we are here. So, what is your purpose, or meaning in this life?

I wasn’t always about following the word of God, but in recent years I have grown to learn more about Jesus and his teachings. While learning about his teachings I believe I have found others who have also lived by his ways in the love for all people throughout the world. We may not always like the people that we come into acquaintance with, but we must love everyone that we encounter. And we must show love to all people because we never know what they may teach us in our lives and what we may also teach them in their lives. I have found this to be very fruitful in recent days as I have met more people that I may never have met before just by showing love rather than showing indifference. I also think this has helped me to accept and become more welcoming towards the people I meet throughout my travels and explorations.

What I really wanted to focus this article on is the story my preacher talked about over the last three weeks of church, and that is the Parable of the Prodigal Son. This parable struck me and made me cry in so many ways because it got me to thinking of things that I had never thought of before throughout my life. Many things that I thought were embarrassments and that I never would be able to repent in my life, but realize that God is here to forgive us of the sins we commit and save us from what we think may not be right. He does not want us to be embarrassed of what we have done in life because he realizes that none of us are perfect in this world. The only person to ever be perfect was our lord and savior Jesus Christ. 

Within the Parable of the Prodigal Son there is talk of two sons. The younger son who is not perfect in any sense of the word and the older son who is perfect in every sense of the word as we understand. Both sons have their issues, just like many of us in the world today, and they must work through those issues and realize that God loves each and every one of us whether we have lost our way in life or we have done everything that he has said and preached for us to do. Righteous or a sinner we are still a lamb of God who will drop everything to try and bring back the single one lost from the herd. That is what he did for the younger son.

As the parable goes the younger son asked the father for his inheritance, long before he died, to go and make his own way in life. The father obliged but the son did not go and make his own way, but rather went and squandered the money, or riches, on whores and other wants that were not needed in life. When he ran out of money, he realized he had squandered away that which his father had given him and wanted to go back and repay his father in any way that he could. When he arrived at his father’s farm, the son told the father that he would work to repay the money, but the father said forget that we will have a feast and celebrate your return. This upset the older son when he found out that the father had a celebration for the younger son who had squandered away the money that the father had given him.

The older son did not understand how his father could forgive his brother so easily for spending the money he was given on whores and other non-necessities. But the father, who is God really that is showing his love to all of us that are lost, tells the older brother that he must accept him back in regardless of the sins he may have committed in this life. So, this really struck a chord, not only in my life currently, but also from my past transgressions in life. As far as the past goes my family and I have always looked at people who have tried to spread the gospel as deceptive and focused on creating a perfect outward appearance. However, studying the bible more and leadership in greater depth, this is not the case in any way. People who are trying to spread the gospel are not two-faced at all, they just understand that they are imperfect as the bible says but want to bring others to the lord. No one, other than Jesus Christ, has ever been perfect in the eyes of the lord. This is because God sent his only begotten son to see what was really going on in this world. Kind of like an ultimate form of the Gemba.

Our lord, Jesus Christ, accepted everyone into his arms. Perfect, or imperfect. Righteous or a sinner. He accepted and invited them all, and he did this with open arms because he loved everyone just the same. He may not like all that we do in the eyes of the Lord, but he knows that we are not perfect. We must remember this in our own lives and invite others in that may not be perfect in our eyes but accept them and love them as they are. As John Wooden always described when asked about many of his players, he would say that he may not like what his players always did, but he loved every one of them at all times. This love shows that they can be more than what they think they can be in life and that they will not be forgotten in times of need. Wooden, like God, was always there when his players needed him the most. When they call the Lord, or in this case the coach Wooden, would answer them, and give them the guidance that they need to push forward.

I think my biggest takeaway from the whole story of the parable is that we will always be loved by the Father regardless of how far we stray from him. He may not always like what we do, and we may never return to him fully, but He will always love unconditionally. And that is whether we are the righteous or the sinner of the family. We must remember that we can return to our father and he will forgive us if we ask him to. That is true leadership amongst all of us. God loves all of us and will welcome us with open arms regardless of what we have done, who we are, or the people we hang out with. He knows we are all imperfect.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

He maketh me lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.

He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.

-Psalms 23: 1-6

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