Capture the Flag

Remember the childhood game called Capture the Flag? Now that I’ve captured your attention, let me say this. I didn’t wake up at 3:00 am and drag myself out of bed because the Lord was leading me to write about  Capture the Flag. But He did impress upon my heart to recommend this. When Jesus stands at the door of your heart, when He waits patiently and lovingly knocking at the door of your life, let me make an emphatic suggestion. Open wide the door, invite Him in, throw yourself into His embrace, and let Him capture your heart. This is exactly what He has done with me – well, almost.

If the truth be known, I made a major mistake when I answered Jesus’ knock on the door of my life some years ago. I opened the door alright. I let Him come in – well, partly anyway. But I did not throw myself into His embrace, and I most certainly did not allow Him to capture my heart. I did everything but let Him capture my heart, as a matter of fact. And I did everything but throw myself into His embrace. In fact, I was too busy holding my arms around my heart in “self-protection”, and too busy embracing my old life to fully let Him in – to say the least.

How so? Let me give you a clear example. Just because you meet, or encounter, someone does not mean you get to know him or her. Just because you invite someone into your house for a meal doesn’t mean you share anything more than a meal. Just because you are introduced to someone doesn’t mean you take the time to get to know him or her. Just because you start in the direction of developing a relationship with someone doesn’t mean you do anything more than begin a relationship – if you begin it at all.

The day I was saved through faith in Jesus Christ was not the beginning of an amazing journey with the Lord for me. Sure, I was saved. But in many ways it was a false start. Why? I made the grave error that I have seen countless others make. I did not let Jesus capture my heart. I did not become a disciple, or a student, of His. I did not follow up my initial encounter with Him by getting to know Him.

Quite simply, I did not delve into the Bible. I did not find a church. I did not get a pastor. I did not immerse myself in the Body of Christ. Most importantly of all, I did not enter into an intimate relationship with Him. I merely met Him. I merely opened the door and let Him in. And that was that. I held on for dear life to my old life, and quite frankly I didn’t know any better. Without the Bible, a church, a pastor, the Body of Christ, and the desire for and pursuit of a deeply personal relationship with Him, I was the same woman living the same live with the same heart that Jesus didn’t even stand a chance of capturing.

In all honesty, I can’t remember virtually anything at all about the game Capture the Flag. Nor can I say why when I have been so exhausted I woke up at 3am with Capture the Flag in my memory or writing this piece on my heart. When was the last time I even thought of the game Capture the Flag? I don’t recall. But I do know this.

Jesus has captured my heart. Because all these years later, I can definitively say that I study and apply the Bible to my life, I have found churches and gotten pastors, I am deeply immersed in the Body of Christ, I have an intimate relationship with the Lord, and I am not merely a believer in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I am a full-fledged, devoted, dedicated, committed, lover and follower of Jesus Christ – the one who truly in every way imaginable has captured my heart. My heart is His. My life is His.

This is not a game called Capture the Flag. This is my life. And Jesus Christ has captured my heart.

Rev 3:20 “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

Luk 10:27  “And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

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