Clearing the baggage (Monday)

Topic: Week 2- Jesus as Savior
Theme for 6 Weeks- Who is Jesus and what difference does it make?

Read Psalm 18:46; Matthew 1:20-21

Since this second week of a meditation/Scripture for the day, there are three things that can serve as reminders:
...These daily meditations (normally, Monday-Friday), are for the six weeks before Easter on the question, “Who is Jesus and what difference does that make?”
...My focus and context is our church, The Bridge, in Denver, but it is not limited to our church community. (The teaching on Sundays will be linked to the daily meditations and topic.)
...My hope is for the entire six weeks to help us focus and pray on the question of “Who is Jesus?” So, I envision the daily/weekly themes to be in the context of the whole: God Incarnate, Jesus as Savior, Jesus as Lord, the Kingdom of God, being “in Christ,” and the church as the body of Christ.

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When you hear or read things like, “I was saved on ________ at _______,” or, “I want my friend to get saved,” or, “Jesus saved me and now I have a home in heaven when I die,” what goes through your mind?

Or, perhaps you had an experience with church when you heard the pastor (or tv/radio preacher) ask for anyone interested, at the end of the service, to raise your hand or come down front if you want to be saved. Or, maybe you never heard the word saved or salvation, or hardly ever.

Depending on our past experience, the idea of Jesus as Savior or that “Jesus saves” can carry some baggage that clutters some of the real intent with salvation. It could carry some very positive notions. It could involve some quite negative associations.

What if we attempted clear some of the trappings that we have associated with Jesus as Savior and the one who saves? If we cleared some of this away, might we be in a position to more openly receive the meaning(s) of “Jesus saves?”

Question: What do I bring to my time of prayer regarding “saved” and “Jesus as Savior?” Is there negative baggage and associations that might block the intended meaning of Jesus as Savior?

Prayer: Gracious God, I want to love you and to live my life in love of others. If there are things that are in the way of understanding and receiving the implications of Jesus as Savior, may you reveal them to me. May I open myself more to your saving work. Amen.