When Jesus walked this earth, He was not a rock star of the day. But who Jesus is captivated their lives. His love, His teachings, His grace, His forgiveness, and His compassion captivated people. I will always remember the day I had an encounter with Jesus. It was the day I was born again as I received Him as my Lord and Savior. It was an all-consuming passion and desire to know everything about Him. I went to church every Sunday because I wanted to hear all about Him. I started to raise my hands during worship because I wanted to touch Him. When you are captivated by something, there is a driving force to move towards it. It’s an all-consuming passion.
I think of the woman who is known as the sinful woman spoken of in the book of Luke (Luke 7:36-50). She had an encounter with Jesus. When she heard He was at Simon’s house, she went there. She walked right in, knowing what those people thought of her. Can you imagine all the negative energy coming from the people in that room?
We have all experienced this to some degree. You walk into a room and there is someone there who doesn’t like you or is judging you. We all know what that feels like. It could be in the workplace or maybe your extended family or even church.
So picture this: this room was filled with that kind of energy. However, she was protected from it. It didn’t touch her because she only had eyes for Jesus.
She was captivated by Jesus’ love and by His compassion. It propelled her toward Him. She fell at His feet in tears of gratitude and love. She was so overwhelmed all she could do was weep.
That’s what happened to me when I had an encounter with Him. I cried for hours as His love captivated my heart.
This is what we are called to do. We are called to captivate others through Jesus’ love flowing through us. We are called to go out into the workplace, our family’s everywhere we go, captivating people with love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. If we are not risking our lives being hurt, we risk nothing. We will never captivate others. We will never captivate people with religion. We will only captivate others when we live a life where we love, where we share grace, where we forgive.
Jesus said in one of His teachings: “If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anyone can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
A love that says all are lovable—this kind of love is captivating. That is Jesus’s heart. It’s one thing to say to people, ‘Jesus loves you.’ Many people need to know the love of Christ, but they need to see that love in us for them to be guided to Him.
Let’s remember what Jesus said:
Matthew 22:37—Jesus said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind. This is the greatest commandment. This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.’
As we are captivated by Jesus’ love, that love will permeate our heart, our soul, and our mind. And in return we can show that love to others.”