I remember
the day. It was the day I knew I loved Steve and he was my forever man.
We were in
college. He was walking me from his fraternity house to my apartment. We
stopped at my mailbox to pick up my mail. We were laughing and being silly. It
was just one of those joyous days.
I inserted
the key to unlock the box when Steve stopped me. He looked me in the eyes and
very seriously said, “Susan, when I am with you, I am better. You just make me
better.”
I’m pretty
sure I had already told Steve I loved him several times before. But in that
moment, I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, I was in love with him. I
knew his words were true because the same was true for me. Steve made me better,
too.
When I was
thirteen I had an experience with Jesus similar to the one that happened at the
mailbox with Steve. Even though I was nine when I asked Jesus to come live in
my heart, it wouldn’t be until four years later that I knew I loved Jesus
wholeheartedly.
Our family
was taking a vacation in our RV. My sister and I were in the very back and as
we bumped down the highway, I asked my sister, “Mary, what does it really mean
for Jesus to live in my heart?” My sister is four years older than me and I
believed she knew the answer to all things.
“It means that
when you were nine, you asked Jesus to be your Savior so you could live a full
life with him here on earth and one day be reunited with him in heaven.” My
sister went on to say, “But, Susan, to really be in love with Jesus and to
follow him, he must not only be your Savior, but he must be sovereign in your
life. Everything you do and say must be filtered through him because he loves
you and knows what’s best for you. This is how you live a long and full life
with him.”
All these
years later, Jesus is still both a savior to me and sovereign over me. Because
of this, I believe Jesus makes me better. Following and trusting Jesus makes me
a better wife, mom, sister, friend. Hanging out with Jesus helps me look more
like him. And I think this makes me a better Susan.
Your
relationship with Jesus tells your story of how you do the journey. You can
choose to trust him and follow him wholeheartedly, even if life doesn’t turn
out as you planned.
You can be
sure this is true because Jesus says, “My purpose is to give (you) a rich and
satisfying life” (John 10:10). He wants you to wake up each morning and know
he’s joining you in all the moments of your day.
This is what makes
life wild and wonderful: seeing your story unfold as you live each day with
Jesus.
