What have I ever done to deserve even one

Of the pleasures I’ve known?

What did I ever do that was worth loving You

For the kindness You’ve shown?

              from the song “Why Me, Lord?” by Kris Kristofferson

Jesus calls us to run to Him. He tells us to come, and come now! This is not just intellectual assent to Christ as the Son of God or even accepting Him as our savior; it is about running to Jesus and throwing ourselves entirely at His mercy. This is realizing that no good thing dwells in us. We are unworthy to even be in His presence. Yet He calls us to Himself, and because of His death on the cross on our behalf, wonder of all wonders, He accepts us. When you realize His forgiveness, you come running. You want to get there before He changes His mind. (He won’t, but that’s how it feels!)

It’s like Peter, who, upon recognizing Jesus, hastily threw on his cloak, leaped into the water, and swam to shore. It’s like the women who, upon seeing the empty tomb, ran to spread the news; and it’s like Peter again, who, upon hearing the news, ran to the tomb to verify its truth. These are not just actions, they are transformative encounters with Jesus.

Do everything you can to get to Jesus as soon as possible. This is not intellectual. It’s not respectable. It’s undoubtedly not prideful. It’s abandonment to Him — leaving your nets and following Him — running to catch up if necessary because He’s on the move.

Live to cause people to run towards Jesus and not away from Him. Too many people are running away from Him for all the wrong reasons. They feel judged when they should be feeling loved and accepted. We must show people how much we need Jesus, not how much they do. People will realize how much they need Jesus when they get next to us and find out how much we need Him.

We here at the Catch community are forever running to Jesus. Come run with us instead of running alone. We believe in God’s Grace, which upends “As you sow, so you will reap.”  The Word of God says Grace defies reason and logic and that His love interrupts the consequences of our actions, which is very good news for all of us, because we have done a lot of stupid things.

As a runner to Jesus, join us and let’s run together to Him.

If you are a seeker, we can exchange our thoughts, challenge each other, and ask the questions we know the Lord will answer along the way.

One of my songs has an appropriate message that goes something like this: “I am just one hungry beggar showing you where I found food.” So, run with us, and in the process, know we are available to you. Here are our personal emails: john.fischer@mac.com and martifischer@mac.com.

And as you go, our prayer ministry is yours. Our Prayer Warriors welcome your confidential prayer requests at catchjohnfischer@icloud.com.

Whether you choose to run with us or not, begin running toward Him. He is waiting with his unconditional love and open arms.