Jesonian: Can You Do What You Do With the Do? … November 29th, 2015

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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Yes, can you do what you do with the do?

For after all, ideal circumstances are impossible, good ones rare, and inadequate situations are common fare.

Never is this more evident than in the life of Jesus of Nazareth:

Being born in a barn is more likely a precursor to a life of poverty and crime than becoming the Savior of the world.

Being chased from your homeland by a despot and ending up a refugee in Egypt would normally be a sad biographical sketch of a loser and bitter soul, not the Prince of Peace.

Certainly being rejected by a town which pigeon-holed you as the “son of a Carpenter” would not inspire you to go out and heal the sick and raise the dead.

Likewise, having the misfortune to arrive at a wedding feast which did not order enough wine, and being asked to “do something with water” might make someone grouchy.

We must never forget that finding yourself in a garden where you’re surrounded by sleepy friends and betrayed by one of your close companions would normally be the closing scene of a Shakespearian tragedy, not the door to salvation.

And being convicted of a capital crime and sentenced to death hardly seems the best position to find oneself in while preparing for a resurrection.

Jesus worked on what he could do instead of complaining about the “do” that was going on around him.

I will go so far as to say that your level of success in life will be determined by how well you do what you do in the “do” that is available … instead of waiting for better times. 

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Jesonian: 12,206 … August 10, 2014

 

 Jonathots Daily Blog

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12,206.

It’s the number of days that Jesus of Nazareth lived on this earth. Give or take a hundred here or there.

I would never be so presumptuous as to tell you that I know all the specifics of the times and dates of the life of the Nazarene. But for the sake of discussion and discovery, come along with me, and let us agree that 12,206 is pretty close.

The reason I want you to examine this with me is that six years of that life was spent in Egypt, as a boy in exile, having been threatened by Herod the Great. So for six years of his life–or approximately 22% of his existence–he was a stranger in a strange land, alienated from the people of his origin and left to discover, along with his refugee parents, who were aliens in Egypt, exactly who he was, what he could do, and survive all the difficulties associated with the process,

For twenty-four years, or approximately 71% of his term, he lived as a carpenter in a tiny village with a family of about seven people.

Only three years, or about 8% of his life, was spent traveling, sharing, teaching and interacting with people in his ministry. And only about two of those years included healing, exorcisms and resurrections of dead people. So although we consider him to be the celebrated healer of Galilee, only about 5% of his life was spent in that pursuit.

He had one night when he was arrested, about 4.5 hours on the cross of his death, thirty-six hours in the grave and forty days of life after the resurrection before he ascended to heaven.

He spent forty days in the wilderness preparing himself by challenging his appetites and being tempted.

All of those moments in his life which we call his ministry, was less than 10% of his journey.

Almost 3/4 of the time he was alive, he was Jesus of Nazareth, son of a carpenter, brother to Jude, Simon, James, with at least a couple of sisters, and with his mother, Mary.

To me, the message he left behind through this lineage of his life is:

1. Learn to get along with people.

2. Take some time to get to know yourself; otherwise you’ll enter life much too defensive to be any help to others.

3. Don’t be afraid to be a stranger because in doing so, you find out what you’re really made of and the power of your values.

4. When you do finally decide to travel, move among your fellow-humans with a heart to forgive and a desire to heal.

5. Understand that there will be those who will try to hurt you.

6. Be prepared to lay your life on the line.

7. Trust God to bring you through.

He was a human being who lived for 12,206 days, spending most of them communicating, through his life, how to better understand the people around him … and offer a helping hand instead of a critical spirit.

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