Have you ever stopped to think about nothing? That’s a tricky question so I need to ask it again, but differently. When asked that question, I assume many would interpret it to mean, “Do you ever turn off your brain and take a moment to pause and not think about anything?” I admit that’s a fair interpretation and probably the most common. However, I am asking…Do you ever stop to think about NOTHING?
What IS “nothing?”
Recently, I have been thinking a lot about nothing. It’s not that I have nothing to do or anything; I’m as busy as anyone else. But I’ve been thinking about nothing and how it relates to my relationship with Jesus. What I’m beginning to realize is that a relationship with Jesus has a lot more to do with nothing than anything. Here’s what I mean.
Our relationship with Jesus is based on nothing that we can do on our own.
Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us,
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
Nothing we can do gets us to Heaven. Nothing we can do obtains our salvation to eternal life. We have salvation through Jesus Christ because He died for our sin (John 3:16, Romans 5:8; 6:23).
Our relationship with Jesus requires that we hold onto nothing; that we surrender our all to Him.
Yes it is true that when we believe by faith that Jesus is Lord, we have eternal life. But our Christian life is meant for more!
Luke 9:23-24 says,
“And He said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.”
Jesus calls us to more. He calls us to live each day for Him and to surrender our life and everything in it to His leading. He calls us to hold onto nothing. BUT Him.
As we head into October 2021, we’ll be singing “I Surrender All” as part of our next song in the Hymn Project. As we do, consider the following:
- What does it mean to hold onto nothing?
- What areas of your life do you need to surrender to Jesus?
Pastor Joel Farber
Joel Farber is the Worship Pastor at Friendship Church. He grew up in Minnesota and moved to the Prior Lake area in 2013 to work for Friendship Church as a Worship Associate. Joel and his family love Friendship Church. Other than his love for Jesus, Joel will first describe himself as a husband and father. He met his wife, Hannah, during a Wednesday night service at the Prior Lake campus in 2014 and the rest is history. They have two girls named Zoey and Ava.