Day 6: Jesus is a Gigantic Risk-taker

Taking a risk is to expose yourself to the possibility of loss or injury. Jesus is a Gigantic Risk-taker!

According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, a risk-taker is a person who’s willing to do things that involve danger or risk in order to achieve a goal.

Jesus was a Gigantic Risk-taker!

He wasn’t afraid to take risks when He walked this earth. He had goals to achieve. Here’s just a couple of His goals:

• He healed.
• He crushed man’s ideologies.
• He conquered death.
• He brought life.

Think about the things Jesus did during His time on earth. During a time when the world was full of change and so many rules existed, He took gigantic risks.

• He talked with a Samaritan woman at a well. That was not an “appropriate” behavior in those times. Jews did not associate with Samaritans (John 4). Talk about a taboo interaction. Jesus was a Risk-taker!
• Jesus healed a man’s hand on the Sabbath (Mark 3). He said it was better to do good than evil. That meant healing this man’s shriveled hand on the Sabbath was good. It would have been evil not to heal him when He could. He challenged and crushed the Pharisees’ ideologies and rules. Jesus was a Risk-taker!
• Jesus also handed over His mission to humans (Matthew 28:18-20; John 17:11). That’s like giving children a stash of your hard-earned money and trusting them to spend it wisely. Jesus was a Risk-taker!

Jesus was not afraid to risk it all. He was willing to be ridiculed and injured. He was willing to be vulnerable and expose Himself. He was willing to accept those who no one else would accept. He was willing to touch the untouchable, love the unlovable, and forgive the unforgivable.

Jesus is not afraid to take risks now either. He’s still willing to take gigantic risks.

Jesus has taken a risk on me. He’s accepted me as one of His very own children.

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12, NIV).

More than that, Jesus died on the cross for me. He took the greatest risk of injury for me, to forgive me, to rescue me, to save me (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19).

If Jesus was willing to risk it all for us, and we are His children, we need to be willing to be risk-takers too.

Are we?
Are we willing to be risk-takers like Jesus?

I agree with Rick Warren that “one of the greatest mistakes we can make is to play it safe with our lives.”

Are you going to continue to play it safe or are you willing to take a risk is to expose yourself to the possibility of loss or injury for the sake of others and Jesus?

Perhaps you need to talk to someone that you’ve deemed you shouldn’t.
Perhaps you need to forgive someone.
Perhaps you need to love someone, be kind, patient, and supportive to them.
Perhaps Jesus is asking you to take a gigantic risk and follow Him down a path this frightens you.

My prayer for you this Advent season is that you’d be willing to expose yourself even though there is the possibility of loss or injury. May you be like Jesus. May you be willing to take a loss for His sake. May you be a gigantic risk-taker too.