I caught myself asking a dangerous
question recently. It can easily become a refrain in my head, like
that annoying song that won't go away, but I finally saw what was
happening.
Why should I?
Why should I keep trying to repair a
broken relationship?
Why should I call her when she never
calls me?
Why should I help him out when he
never helps me?
Why should I keep my sick kids at
home when no one else does?
Why should I go to so much effort
when no one has ever done anything for me?
In our human world we like things to be
equal and fair. We like to get what we paid for, whether we paid
with money, time, effort or emotion. We want to feel like the effort
to do right is worth it – like we're getting some kind of return.
When I caught myself asking that
question of why should I a few weeks ago, I thought about Jesus
Christ. What if he had thought that way? Imagine the questions Jesus
could have asked himself.
Why should I work with this man who's
going to deny he even knows me?
Why should I invest three years of
my life into someone who will just betray me?
Why should I heal people who won't
do anything for me?
Why should I teach a bunch of people
who will try to stone me?
Why should I feed people who don't
even believe in me?
Jesus Christ didn't just die for our
sins, He lived in a world full of sinners, loving and serving them
every minute that He had. I'm so thankful He didn't first weigh up
what we could do for Him (nothing) before laying down His life (which
was worth billions of ours). The Bible tells followers of Christ to
become like Him. The apostle Paul said:
Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. (I Corinthians 11:1)
In his letter to
the Romans Paul said:
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind … (Romans 12:2)
The answer to
the question why should I is simple. Because Jesus would.
In a few days followers of Jesus Christ around the world will be
remembering His death and resurrection by observing the Passover as
He did. The words He spoke in prayer to God shortly before His
brutal crucifixion were not why should I, but:
...Nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. (Luke 22:42)
May that be our
prayer also.
