"Comeback begins with Jesus."

A thought by Louie Giglio, from his book, Never Too Far (p. 17). Thomas Nelson, Kindle Edition.  (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.)

Yes it does. 

Louie asks, "Does that seem too simple for you?"

The comeback begins.

He goes on, "We often think we need to do something great ourselves in order to have a comeback. We need to jump high hurdles or climb ladders to heaven. At the very least, we mistakenly think we need to be in the right place at the right time.

"The good news is that the essential action has nothing to do with us. In fact, when it comes to being in position, it’s only important that Jesus is in the right place at the right time. And you can count on him not to miss his cue."

He goes on, "There are so many stories in the Bible that show how Jesus is always on time and in the right place.

"Once there was a woman who’d been sick for many years (her story is told in Luke 8). No doctor could help her. She knew she needed to get close to Jesus and he would heal her. But there were huge crowds around Jesus. Getting close to him seemed impossible.

"Yet it wasn’t too late for her. All she did was reach out and touch the hem of his garment as he passed by, just a finger brushing lightly against the edge of his robe.

"Jesus knew that power had gone out from him. He said, 'Daughter, stand up; your faith has made you whole.' Immediately the woman was healed."

Louie continues, "Luke 19:1–10 tells the story of a man who worked for the government who’d been involved in some shady business dealings. People knew about his dealings and hated him. The man knew he needed help, but who was ever going to help a corrupt businessman?

"He desperately wanted Jesus to come to his home so they could talk in private. But there was another problem: the man was really short and Jesus was always surrounded by crowds. Getting close to Jesus seemed impossible, and inviting Jesus to his house seemed out of the question.

"But it wasn’t too late for that man.

"Just before Jesus passed along his street, the businessman climbed a sycamore tree. And when Jesus came to that spot, he stopped and looked right into the man’s face. Before the man could get out a word, Jesus called him by name. 'Zacchaeus!' he said. 'Come down from that tree. I’m going to your house today.'

"Everybody in the crowd was shocked that Jesus would go to the house of a tax collector. Tax collectors were known to be cheats and scam artists. But Jesus didn’t care. And right then and there, Zacchaeus realized that money would never satisfy the truest longings of his heart, and he vowed to give half of his possessions to the poor and pay back four times more than he’d taken from anybody he’d ever cheated.

"It wasn’t too late for Zacchaeus, because Jesus is the God of the comeback."

Louie then says, "See, we don’t need to shine ourselves up and sit in a beautiful church sanctuary. We don’t need to gather our children and spouse together and figure out how to become the world’s most functional family. We don’t need to get well before we meet Jesus. That’s what he does for us!

 "It doesn’t matter how messy life has become; it’s never too late for God to restore your family, your health, your mind. Never too late for him to put your life back together. Never too late to heal the wounds inflicted on you over years..."

"The good news is that paradise connects with landfills. Today, thanks to Jesus, paradise can come to us."

And that is true of wherever you are. So would you reach out to Him so your comeback can start today? Will you?

Yes, yes!