Making a Beeline to Jesus!

In his book, Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry, Rick Lawrence relays an anecdote from a sermon Charles Spurgeon preached on March 13, 1859 (Sermon 242, Christ Precious to Believers):

A young preacher invited Spurgeon to listen to and critique his preaching, and he delivered an impassioned sermon. Afterward, Spurgeon commented that the young preacher was “well-prepared and well-delivered the sermon, but it was not good.

“Will you tell me why you think it a poor sermon?”

“Because there was no Christ in it.”

“Well, Christ was not in the text; we are not to be preaching Christ always, we must preach what is in the text.”

“Don’t you know, young man, that from every town, and every village, and every little hamlet in England, wherever it may be, there is a road to London?”

“Yes.”

“Ah! And so from every text in Scripture there is a road to the metropolis of the Scriptures, that is Christ. Dear brother, when you get to a text, say, ‘Now what is the road to Christ?’ and then preach a sermon, running along the road toward the great metropolis—Christ.”

Some (like Lawrence) believe Spurgeon referred to this action as “making a beeline to Jesus.”

Whether or not Spurgeon said it, this idea of praying through and teaching Scripture in such a way that we always land on Jesus is at the very core of Insourced Parenting. While the Bible is NOT a how-to manual, we have gained so much insight into how God desires parents to disciple their kids.

Here’s how that works. The Bible is The Story. From “In the beginning” to “‘Surely I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” the Father points his earthly children to his Son. Redemption, adoption, restoration, and LOVE are themes that remind Israel that their Messiah was coming. His flawed earthly lineage showed Israel that God uses anyone to bring about his plan for his glory.

All of it points to Jesus.

Imagine if we did this in our families!

“…leaning into the pursuit of Jesus –where we look for him and listen to him and follow his nudges into all sorts of adventures—is really at the core of a shift to a Jesus-centered [family]. It’s a movement from ‘mastery of knowledge and discipline’ to a ‘growing abandonment to the person of Jesus.’” – Rick Lawrence, Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry

Each day, we lean into Jesus a bit more for:

· wisdom in that difficult conversation with our teens!

· strength to endure the long, hard days when we just can’t handle one more tantrum or meltdown!

· grace to forgive deep hurts because God calls us to forgive!

· peace when all we see are question marks ahead of us, yet we know he has all of the periods (and even exclamation points!)!

· joy in the little moments that are so fleeting we almost forget to savor them!

Instead of carrying the unnecessary burden of having all the answers and doing all the right things, what if we leaned all the more into Jesus as believers (first and foremost) and then as parents? What if we pursue him by looking for him in our everyday lives, listening to his still, small voice, and following those nudges?

Imagine the shift in the culture of our families as we grow in increasing abandonment to Jesus?!

It all begins with leaning a bit more into Jesus each day and looking for ways we can show our kids how to do the same.

We’re on this journey together, my friends.