Dear Family and Friends,
 
One of the hardest decisions I made when I first started pastoring at church had to do with the Saturday evening meals.
 
The decision was hard, not in the sense of knowing what to do. It was hard because the decision would disappoint a lot of folks.
 
At the time, our Saturday evening service was filled to capacity. But was it because people wanted to hear God’s word?
 
Or were people flocking to that service because years earlier, the church started serving catered meals?
 
We stopped and many of the Saturday attendees stopped as well.
 
Perhaps they were following Christ but not for the right reasons… perhaps they were looking for what He could do for them. 
 
This wouldn’t be the first time people have done so.
 
Let’s look at an encounter from the week leading up to Good Friday.
 
“Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival.
 
They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘we would like to see Jesus.’
 
Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus.” John 12:20-22 NIV
 
We don’t know why these Greeks asked to see Jesus.
 
But this we know:
 
That everybody was talking about Jesus.
 
That word about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was spreading.
 
And that a great crowd welcomed Jesus as He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the king of Israel!”  John 12:13 NIV
 
We also know that as Greeks, they were restricted to the outer court, the Court of the Gentiles.
 
Perhaps they were caught up with the crowd who heard that Jesus had performed a sign – raising Lazarus. (See John 12:18)
 
Perhaps the Greeks asked to see Jesus because they were looking for what He could do for them. 
 
Let’s turn our focus to Jesus’ response.
 
“Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”  John 12:23-24 NIV
 
Are you like me, wondering – was Jesus responding to the Greeks?
 
Jesus acknowledged for the first time that the hour for Him and His Father to be glorified had come.
 
Then using the metaphor of a seed, Jesus spoke of His coming fate.
 
And how He would become the Savior.
 
“Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.”  John 12:25 NIV
 
In other words, Jesus’ message to the Greeks was, ‘Let’s not meet yet. Just wait and you will see something grander than what you ask or could ever imagine.’
 
Many of us started our new life with Jesus as our Savior. The promise of eternal life drew us to believing in Him.

But Jesus wants to be more than our Savior. He wants us to look beyond what He did and can do for us.

Today’s passage doesn’t end with Jesus declaring Himself our Savior. In the short verse that follows, Jesus says He will also be our Lord.
 
“Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”  John 12:26 NIV
 
I recognize that keeping Jesus as our Lord all the time is hard.
 
But let us never forget, Jesus paid a price for us with His own blood. And by doing so, He delivered us from a master that used and abused us.
 
So why do we keep going back to our former master?
 
Is there anything we can do to change?
 
The Bible suggests nothing will change until one’s heart changes. (See Proverbs 4:23)
 
If you feel changes are needed to make Jesus the Lord over your whole life, start with changing your heart.
 
Renew your love for Jesus. Pursue Him as you once did.

Go back and do all the things you once loved doing when you first fell in love with Jesus.
 
Fill your drive time worshipping Him, and your quiet time talking with Him.

Wake yourself up earlier and read His words.
 
And when your love for Him is rejuvenated, ask Him and He will guide you to the life He always wanted you to have.
 
A life with Jesus at the center.

A life of peace and joy.
 
In love always,