Excerpted from You Can Live in Jesus’ Easy Yoke by Bill Gaultiere
Some years ago I got an e-mail from one of the readers of this Soul Shepherding Devotional that I’ve been sending out for fifteen years now. She wrote:
“I like the way you want us to ‘delight’ in the Lord like a ‘child,’ as I’ve always felt this is the way God would love us to approach him. But I don’t know if I would ‘skip’ like a child and then say, ‘I am the disciple Jesus loves.’ I think my roommate just might call the ‘men in the white coats’ on me!”
I replied: “Bring on the white coats! I’ll be crazy for Jesus!” Frances Chan calls this “Crazy Love.”
This is Your Chance!
Jesus is standing before you right now as you read these words. He’s smiling and his arms are open to you. His heart is open to you. “Come to me,” he says. “Follow me and I will give you life – real life, my life in God, abundant and eternal living, more vitality than you could imagine, more joy than you can contain, the peace that you’ve always longed for.” (My paraphrased based on John 10:10.)
If only we would let Jesus enthrall our hearts!
If only we would appreciate the glorious blessing of being a part of his Kingdom of the Heavens in our midst. If only we would see that awaiting us right now is the opportunity of a lifetime: to be Jesus’ beloved disciple, to make our lives Jesus’ classroom, to make our world his kingdom, to shine his light all around us. (The Apostle John learned to identify himself as the disciple Jesus loves; see John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7, 20.)
Why Not Just Try it? You Can Skip with Jesus!
When we behold in our hearts the goodness and beauty of Jesus, then we will be captivated by him! We’ll leave behind anything that distracts us and lay down all the burdens that we’re carrying in order to take his hand and skip with him wherever he leads.
Really. Skipping can be a spiritual discipline. I’ve never seen it on anybody’s list, but it’s on mine. From time to time I do it in private, with little children, and in groups of adult children to help us worship the Lord with joy. Other times I skip in my spirit simply by smiling because I am loved by God and so are you! With Jesus in God’s kingdom we grow in righteousness, peace, and joy (Rom. 14:17).
Try skipping along or dancing for a few steps and exclaiming, “I am the disciple Jesus loves!” Then say this as a prayer for others. You could do it while no one is watching. It’ll make you smile! It’ll help you express your love for the Lord.
If you’re physically unable to skip then imagine yourself holding Jesus’ hand and skipping and then make your voice skip with joy as you sing out, “I am the disciple Jesus loves!”
Why not have crazy love for Jesus? It’s actually the most sane way to be!
