What is the heart of Jesus, and what kind of people does He
gravitate toward? Of course He loves all
people (John 3:16 “so loved the world”),
but there are some that His heart particularly goes out to.
He tells us exactly who those are when He began His public
ministry in Luke 4:18, and suprising to many it wasn’t the religious, the
righteous, or the ritualistic, but rather He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach
good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”
It is clear that the heart of Jesus is to those who are
poor, oppressed, blind, downcast, struggling, hurting, etc. After all, He said elsewhere “it is not the healthy who need a physician
but the sick. I have not come to call
the righteous but sinners” (Mk. 2:17).
And this is why He hung out with the sinners, tax collectors and social
outcasts.
I am so glad that God has a heart of compassion for those
who are hurting. Why? Because I am so
needy, and therefore I can draw near to Him, and He will draw near to me (James
4:8). Just as God comes running toward
the returning prodigal (Luke 15), I can be confident that He comes running to
meet me when I repent of my sin. When I
am lonely, struggling and feeling very unrighteous, I can come to God and know,
He will in no wise caste me out!
Do you come running to God in your sin and pain, or do you
feel that you have to wait until you “get your act together” first? Come to Jesus just as you are, and then He
can help you. If you are in sin,
struggling, blind, in prison to some addiction, etc. then you are the very
person Jesus’s heart particularly goes toward.
Even though this is counter-intuitive to our flesh, it is exactly what
the Spirit of God is saying! Don’t miss
it. What a Savior!
For more on the "Heart of Jesus", listen to my sermon by that title at http://www.pastordavidholt.com/component/sermonspeaker/sermon/203-the-heart-of-jesus.html?Itemid=71
For more on the "Heart of Jesus", listen to my sermon by that title at http://www.pastordavidholt.com/component/sermonspeaker/sermon/203-the-heart-of-jesus.html?Itemid=71
