No Fancy Bows, Please!

When growing up in church I was never truly taught about what Jesus did for me. When you’re a child, teachers tend to skim over His passion: He died on the cross, He was buried and rose to life on the third day. Nobody explains about scourging. Nobody talks about how He was spit on, slapped, mocked and forced to carry His cross. They don’t talk about what it says in Isaiah 52 about how He was tortured until He was unrecognizable as a human. The passion of Jesus Christ is wrapped-up in a pretty, little package with a sparkling bow on top. Oh, how I wish they hadn’t gift-wrapped that package when I was growing-up. One day, in my adult years, a friend loaned me a DVD movie trailer of “Passion of the Christ.” That’s the day my life changed. When I saw the film clips of Jesus being led in chains and him lifting his precious face, all bruised and bloodied and swollen—that was it for me. It was as if a brick wall had fallen on me, and I fell head-over-heels in love with Jesus. That’s when my true relationship started with Him. Pretty, little packages that hide the truth don’t lead people to Christ. The exposed truth is what speaks to the lost, empty hearts in this world. Let’s untie the bows and toss the wrapping paper away!

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