Do you see the rabbit?

If the world really is becoming an even darker, uglier, more dangerous place …

If the return of Christ is so much closer …

… isn’t it time for us to purposely become less comfortable and truly sacrificial?

Isn’t it time we leave our armchair quarterbacking and couch commentating and fully engage in being Christ’s ambassadors to the world as we are called to be (2 Cor. 5:18-20)?

A story is told in the tradition of the Desert Fathers. One day a young monk asked one of the Desert Fathers why it was that so many came into the desert seeking God and yet most of them did not stay, but returned to the outside world. The old monk said, “Yesterday my dog spied a rabbit in the bushes and began to give chase. He barked with joy and the other dogs heard his bark and joined in the chase. Soon, however, dogs began to drop out of the hunt. A few stayed with the chase through the night, but in the morning only my dog continued chasing the rabbit. Do you understand what I have told you?”

“No,” replied the young monk, “please tell me.”

“It’s simple,” said the old monk, “my dog saw the rabbit.”

Many Christians are like these dogs. They’re running in a hunt for something they haven’t seen for themselves, at least not recently. There was a time they “saw” Christ, but they’ve long ago filled their view with other things, and so they’ve been dropping out of the hunt. I’m convinced when we see Christ, and keep our eyes on Him, the last thing we can settle for is sitting comfortably on the sidelines in a world where the majority of people are lost without Christ.

What we see drives us to become more than uncomfortable, it compels us to sacrifice. In Matthew 13:45-46 is the story of a merchant:

“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!”

Like that merchant, when we see Jesus, we’ll sacrifice EVERYTHING to know Him, to walk with Him, to worship, serve, and glorify Him. We will sacrifice EVERYTHING to be His disciples, living and loving in this world the way He lived and loved when He walked on this earth.

Why, then, do we remain so disengaged and personally comfortable?

It cannot be because of what we see in Christ, or Christ in us!

If we refresh our vision with who Jesus really is, and the great grace with which we get to be His ambassadors, we cannot help put become fully engaged — sacrificially so — in taking the Gospel to the lost and serving the hurting, the helpless, the least and the lost among us.

The real question isn’t whether you see the rabbit, but do you really see Jesus?

Scotty