This time four years ago we were in the middle of a lockdown. We were not having regular worship services, although we did have a “Drive In” service on Easter Sunday where people stayed in their vehicles and we blasted the service over the parking lot with a portable PA system. People were scared, lonely and miserable at the forced isolation from family and friends. There were so many unknowns. Do you remember how that felt? That Easter I reminded everyone that Christ is still risen, and that makes all the difference in this world. But it was a difficult time.

Even though our youngest daughter and her family only live about 80 miles away, we had only seen them once since the lockdown started. Then in late May they came up to our house for the first time in a long time. Our then two-year-old grandson, Simon, ran up to Cheryl and hugged her tightly, not wanting to let go. He kept saying, “Got Gammaw, Got Gammaw, Got Gammaw.”  It was a joyful reunion.

It made me think of what lay ahead for believers. Sure, we are living in this sinful world with its hardships, but because of what Jesus did for us, we look forward to a joyful reunion with Him. Paul wrote about it this way:

Romans 8:18–21 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

The day is coming when those subjected to frustration will be liberated from their bondage to decay and brought into that place that Jesus went to prepare for us. When we get there, I can picture us wanting to cling to our Savior in celebration and cry out “Got Jesus! Got Jesus! Got Jesus!”

For that to happen, you need to “get Jesus” now. You need to understand that He is the only way to the Father, that He has done what was needed to give us free access to forgiveness and everlasting life. It is a gift available to everyone, not matter who you are or what you have done. Thanks be to God our salvation is not dependent on our behavior, but on what Jesus already did for us.

Jesus wants to be with us through good times and bad, through times of blessings and times of pandemic, through whatever we must face in this life. He is our strength. He is our Savior. If you “get Jesus” now, you will have Him and be with Him for eternity.

Got Jesus?