In Love With Jesus

Do you ever have a thought that just won't let go of you? It pursues you and pops up whenever it feels like it. It reminds you of the time before, when you were too busy to heed its message. It nudges you when other thoughts crowd into your brain. It quietly impresses upon you until you are willing to listen.
It's like waking in the morning and looking in the mirror discovering a sticky note stuck right in the centre. That's the same sticky note from yesterday morning. And the morning before that. And last week ... and so on.

I've been chased down by a thought, a phrase, really. I think it's a message I need desperately, and am struggling with. Thus the pursuit. I know the message, but it's altogether different living it out. Thus the reminder. I want it, but at times it seems too hard. Thus the nudge.

I told my little thought to a friend recently and she too really enjoyed that thought. It was a great thought after all. A thought for everybody.

So here it is.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that other people don't matter ~ in the sense that what they do, how they act, what they say, doesn't matter to me. Doesn't affect me. Doesn't change me.

I want to be so in love with Jesus that I pray for others who are hurting.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that I pray for others who are hurting others.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that He shines like a beacon out of my life.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that my countenance is radiant with the Light of the World.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that when I hurt because of others, am offended by others, am disagreeing with others, that I just see Jesus.
I want to be so in love with Jesus that others see Jesus.

And all this is hard.
Oh, loving Jesus isn't hard. It's all the other stuff. The people stuff. It's easy to love people when they're not upsetting you by how they act. But when they do ...
That's the hard.
That's when I pray ...

Jesus, help me to be so in love with You that the people stuff doesn't matter.
Help me to live my story ~ Your story in me ~ and not worry about the people stuff. To let You work out the people stuff in them. And my stuff in me. 'Cause I've got stuff too.

I want to be so in love with Jesus ...