Jump Start # 1047

Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

  This passage tells us three things:

• Peace and sanctification—pursue it. Chase it. Go after it. Find it. Peace means getting along with others. It is not compromising convictions, looking the other way at wrongs, but not being so pushy, opinionated, stubborn that you cause trouble with everyone. Some folks are like sandpaper. They are hard to get along with and they pride themselves in being that way. Not God’s people. They want peace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peace makers.” Many enjoy peace. Everyone wants peace. God’s people help MAKE peace. Sometimes, to have peace, a person must just keep their mouth closed. That’s hard for some. They always have to have the last word, and that final word, too often is a dig that irritates things. Pursue peace. Being a senior citizen doesn’t grant you the right to be a grump. Pursue peace.

• Sanctification means holiness. God is holy. We are to be holy. Holy in thought. Holy in behavior. Pursue holiness. That starts with thinking pure thoughts. Impure is not always sexual. Impure can be just mean and ugly things about others. When a conversation begins, “I probably shouldn’t say this…” Well then don’t. Pursue sanctification. Don’t blend in, be transformed. Don’t conform, pursue holiness.

• Without which—without peace…without sanctification, no one will see the Lord. Seeing Jesus. To see Jesus, you must be in Heaven, that’s where He’s at. Revelation promises that “we will see His face.” Without peace, there is no Heaven. Without sanctification, Heaven’s not going to happen.

I love that expression, “see the Lord.” Can you imagine? Jesus, the one you have studied for years. Jesus, the one that you can quote His words. Jesus, the theme of all those hymns you sang. Jesus, the one you’ve tried to imitate and follow. Jesus, the one you love. Jesus, the one you’ve talked to every day. See Him. See Jesus.

See Jesus. Everything will be alright once we see Jesus. All those questions really won’t matter that much once you see Jesus. All the sorrow we have carried won’t matter, once we see Jesus. The trials of our journey won’t matter much, once we see Jesus.

Seeing Jesus is our motivation. Seeing Jesus is what we are after. If we can only make it to see Jesus. It doesn’t matter how lonely we are, we will see Jesus. It doesn’t matter how hard things have been, soon we will see Jesus.

Seeing Jesus takes the fear out of death. Seeing Jesus makes us want to rush through this world so we can be with Him. Seeing Jesus will keep our priorities in check. Seeing Jesus thrills us and makes worship come alive.

Isaiah cried, in his vision, My eyes have seen the king. John, in Revelation, fell like a dead man, when He turned and saw Jesus. The Lord who has blessed you all these years. The Lord who has answered so many of your prayers. The Lord who has led you and opened doors for you. The Lord who has loved you and thought of you so often. The Lord who forgave you and gave you another chance. The Lord who invites you to dwell with Him forever. It is the Lord that we will see.

That thought makes the day seem that much brighter. It pushes us that much more. Seeing Jesus. Without peace and sanctification, it cannot happen. So work on my relationships. So work on my heart. We have an invitation to see the Lord, we do not want to miss that.

Roger