Austin got more serious, “Jesus' life was not easy, and he grew up to be sad every single day. Jesus came to give us the good news, that everyone who is suffering may be healed, that everyone who is blind may see again, and freedom for those who are captive.”
“This good news wasn’t literal,” Austin explained, “the good news wasn’t that every blind person who followed him would see, and that everyone’s suffering would be fixed here on earth, but his good news was that if you follow and trust him, he will be with you, both here on earth, and in heaven forever.”
“His message was that all everyone needed to do was to trust him and love him, and everything else was taken care of. He didn’t ask people to be perfect. When someone did something wrong, no matter how wrong it was, if they came to him to ask for his forgiveness and love him, he always forgave them. Nothing can stop his love for you.”
“Jesus wanted everyone to know, from kings to children, that being with him is always possible. And he spread that news far and wise.”
“But the people of Israel didn’t want that. The nation of Israel had been taken over by a people called the Romans, and they believed that a true savior, would be someone who would raise an army and defeat the Romans.”
“Many hated him, because when he came, they wanted a king who was powerful and mighty. But Jesus didn’t give them what they wanted, so the leaders of Israel wanted him gone.”
“Not only did the leaders reject him, but many more people didn’t listen to Jesus. One man, a rich young ruler, came up to Jesus and asked him ‘Teacher, what can I do to have eternal life?’ and Jesus knew that in his heart was love, said ‘You lack one thing, go sell everything you have and give to the poor, and then come and follow me as I travel from city to city to teach.’”
“But, to Jesus’ sadness, the rich young ruler did not listen. So Jesus and him went their separate ways.”
Tim stopped Austin, asking “But does that mean we have to give away all of our things to follow Jesus?”
“No,” Austin responded. “Do you remember what Jesus said we had to do?”
Tim responded, “We just need to love him, right?”
“Exactly,” Austin said. “But Jesus knew that in his heart, the rich young ruler loved money more than he loved him, so he asked him to do the thing that he knew would challenge him.”
“Your life might be the same. In your life, you might be asked to give up something that you love for his sake. What he wants is for you to love him and follow him completely.”
“But this isn’t to say that all of Jesus’ life was one rejection after another. Jesus had many followers who loved him and knew him to be their savior. But the thing that Jesus loved the most, was to teach the children, just like you.”
“He would let them come to him and sit on his lap, and would tell them everything they wanted to know about God, heaven, and how to follow him.”
Read Chapter five