students of jesus

The Creator of the Universe is not easily impressed. Some theologians suggest that because God knows everything, he cannot be moved, but I think some things can capture God's heart. Not power or beauty or intellect--those are the things that impress fools like us. But imagine that moment when the King of the Universe sits up and takes notice of you because of something you thought, said, or did. Could you stir his heart? I think it's possible.

Based on my reading of the scripture, here’s my simple list of what catches the Lord's attention. I’ll bet you could add a few more:

• Jesus loves humility. It turns his head. He told us not to worry about power or position: "Whoever humbles  himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:4). The scripture says simply, "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5). If we humble ourselves before him, he stops to listen.
• Jesus is impressed by faith. When he encountered genuine trust he was astonished. What’s more, he usually discovered faith in the socially unacceptable places of his day (Matthew 8:10 and 15: 28 are two examples).
• Jesus stops for the bold: A blind man screaming on the sidelines evoked this question from the Lord, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Luke 18: 35 - 43) Can you imagine Jesus interrupting his schedule to ask you--personally--”What do you want me to do for you?”
• Jesus defends outrageous acts of worship: When Mary crashed a party and lavished attention on Jesus, others criticized her impropriety. But Jesus said “Leave her alone!” (John 12:7) The Lord actually came to her defense. It leads me to ask, do I pour out my passion in a way that would bring Jesus to my defense?

Jesus loved these traits. They caught his attention. But there is one human trait that never seems to impress God: our intelligence. In fact, he said, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise," and in Jesus he did just that. One thing is sure: God is never impressed by our intellect, but he is frequently impressed by our heart.