A Come to Jesus Moment

Strengthening Connections                                 Wednesday, August 18, 2021

A Come to Jesus Moment

I wonder whether the phrase “come to Jesus moment” is recognizable.  Has it risen to the level of an identifiable idiom in our culture? I do hear it and use it from time to time. It might be rooted in the image of facing Jesus at the Day of Judgement, but it could also harken to other scenes in the Gospels. At different times the disciples are, to use another idiom, “called on the carpet”.

We find one such moment in John 6:66-68. In this part of the adventure of Jesus and his disciples, some of the other followers are turning back to their homes, because his words have become quite radical. Jesus referred to himself as the Son of Man, adding that it is the Father who makes it possible to come to him. He says that God’s Spirit, not human power, gives life. He claims that his spoken words confer God’s life-giving Spirit. Before these claims, he made a stunning declaration: those who eat and drink his flesh and blood have eternal life, and he will raise them to life on the last day.

We can see why some who had been following were now repelled. An intense moment for the specially chosen twelve emerged as Jesus asked, “And you—would you also like to leave?” Does it surprise you that Simon Peter speaks up on behalf of them all?

Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. And now we believe and know that you are the Holy One who has come from God.” (John 6:68-69)

As they would say on the “Family Feud” game show, “Good answer, good answer!” Please understand, I am not making light of it. I am aware even though Peter and the other disciples will slide this way and that in other moments, here we see they feel the impact of Jesus’s presence in their lives. This shows their strong and deep convictions. Learn from this that we are never finished securing our devotion. They truly were declaring complete and true loyalty but be aware: this is also the moment when Jesus reveals that one of them is an enemy who will betray him.

Wouldn’t you say it is a good practice continually to renew our commitment to the One who gives life? Even in daily prayers that become routine, we are wise to think of them as sincere, come-to-Jesus opportunities. Strong feelings and thoughts come with moments of immediacy and challenge before God, and we cannot manufacture these senses in the daily round. But we can train ourselves to think of our quiet times with God as special and not routine, personal, not mechanical, holy, not perfunctory.

The big moments will come when they come. They are not bidden; the Spirit brings them about. Even so, we can bring serious intentionality to scheduled times with God.  Come to Jesus moments are not always thrust upon us, thank goodness. They can be initiated by us. Our Savior is always here for us. Sometimes moments of awe, sometimes of joy, are always part of our journey toward fulfillment.