Whatever you are facing, he knows how you feel.
A couple of days ago 20,000 of us ran through the streets of San Antonio, raising money for breast cancer research. Most of us ran out of kindness, happy to log three miles and donate a few dollars to the cause. A few ran in memory of a loved one, others in honor of a cancer survivor. We ran for different reasons. But no runner was more passionate than one I spotted. A bandanna covered her bald head, and dark circles shadowed her eyes. She had cancer. While we ran out of kindness, she ran out of conviction. She knows how cancer victims feel. She's been there.
So has Jesus. "He is able . . . to run to the cry of . . . those who are being tempted and tested and tried."
When you turn to him for help, he runs to you to help. Why? He knows how you feel. He's been there.
By the way, remember how Jesus was not reluctant to call his ancestors his family? He's not ashamed of you either: "Jesus, who makes people holy, and those who are made holy are from the same family. So he is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters" (Heb. 2:11 NCV).
He's not ashamed of you. Nor is he confused by you. Your actions don't bewilder him. Your tilted halo doesn't trouble him. So go to him. After all, you're a part of his family.
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Max Lucado is minister of Oak Hills Church of Christ in San Antonio, TX.
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Excerpted from Next Door Savior by Max Lucado, copyright 2003. Used by permission from the publisher, W Publishing Group. Any copying, downloading or use of this material is prohibited. All rights reserved.
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1. Jeordan Legon, "From Science and Computers, a New Face of Jesus," 25 December 2002. Found at www.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science.
2. Dean Farrar, The Life of Christ (London, England: Cassell & Company, Ltd., n.d.), 84.