He Didn't Ask

      If Jesus asked us, “Do you want me to die for you?” What would you have said?  If you had a choice between your life and His, would you have taken His offer of a second chance?

    I don’t think I would’ve accepted. I think I would have said, “Thanks for the offer, it means so much….  But I’m not worth it. If I’m honest about who and what I am, I’m not worth a fellow human’s life, never mind your life, the life of my creator. I’m not worth the sacrifice. You're so much better than me, you stay, it’s better that way.”

    But God didn’t ask me to choose. He didn’t let me measure my worth. Jesus said, “She’s valuable, so valuable I’m going to give her my life.” Then He left His house, closed the door, and climbed down the stairs to earth. But He didn’t just come and die. No, first He tasted life as a human. He was born as a baby, and then grew up like a man.  Not as a human king or nobility, but as a tradesman’s son. He tasted hard work. He tasted poverty. After all, He was born in a barn. He cried. He got mad. He got hungry. I bet He knew what it is to be cold, to be hot, to be tired. He got yelled at and people made fun of Him.  In other words, He experienced life and He saw firsthand what we go through. If He didn’t know before, He knew now how fickle we are. He saw how easily we change our minds or question our loyalties. And He still died for us. He still died for me.  It wasn’t easy, He even begged for mercy, but in the end He did His Father’s will and tasted death.

    My hand was among those that killed Him. He carried my sin to one of the most torturous deaths in existence. And He still loves me. He still loves us.

     Jesus didn’t ask us if we wanted Him to die for us. He just did.