Jesus wept because He loved Lazarus...and He loves you too!
But the standard is not how many good things we do or how many bad things we don’t do. The standard is whether or not we take him at his word and trust him. The moment a person begins to trust him, is the moment they begin to be right with God. Love keeps no record of wrongs.
So what does it mean to trust him?
Jesus taught that God loves all people equally. Whether you call yourself a Christian or not, it makes no difference as to how much God loves you. He loves you with an unconditional, eternal, and perfect love.
Trusting Jesus means first taking him at his word that that is true.
Jesus also taught that if we set our hearts on doing his Father’s will, God will take care of us. So trusting Jesus also means trying to do what he commands (see 1 John 5:3).
This is not unreasonable.
We are not pleased when others do not trust us. (When a little girl ignores her mother and runs on the road, it angers and hurts her mother because she loves her daughter.) In a similar way God is not pleased when we do not trust him. He cannot help us while we refuse to trust him.
Jesus said the following about those who do, and do not put his words into practice:
“...everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Here is a re-enactment of Jesus most famous sermon.
So according to Jesus trusting and obeying him is the only way to really know what he's talking about. It's the only way to really understand him.
If we are to trust him we must:
1. Take him at his word that his Father loves us unconditionally.
2. Take him at his word that if we set our hearts on doing his will he will take care of us;
3. Therefore not worry about ourselves, which frees us to put all our effort into doing what he says.
If you’re doing that you’re trusting him. (And he will help you. See Acts 5:32.) If you’re trying to understand him any other way, you are building your house on sand.*
“Men would understand: they do not care to obey,—understand where it is impossible they should understand save by obeying. “ - George MacDonald
Here’s a question for my Christian brothers and sisters.
If Jesus lived in your house, what do you think he would do?
Would he wash up?
If you have a lawn, would he mow the lawn?
Of course he would.
If you're a follower of Jesus, would you do those things with him?
Yes you would. You'd follow him around doing everything you could with him.
Following Jesus is easy when you think about it. We only have to think, "What would Jesus be doing if he was here in bodily form?" Then once you have the answer, join him in spirit by doing what you know he would do. (If you don't know anything about Jesus, you can find out all about him in the New Testament.)
The more someone loves, the more someone puts others before themselves, the greater they are. If you wish to be someone great, follow Jesus' example. He was the greatest person to ever walk this earth. (And contrary to popular opinion, his disciples were also great. See here).
The following poem was written by a Scot in the 1800's, at the height of the British Empires power; it's about true greatness.
*A lot of Christians seem to think that in order to be right with God, you must believe certain things about why Jesus died and rose from the dead. Simply believing that he died and rose from the dead, and trusting and obeying Jesus is not enough according to them. According to these “Christians” you have to accept their theory of atonement also.
But according to Jesus, the only thing you have to do to be right with God is trust and obey the Messiah whom he has sent.
The most important events in the New Testament are Jesus death and resurrection; but the character of God and our need to trust and obey him are spoken about far more often.