Jesus is not a sedative. He is not a “magic pill” to be taken in small doses to numb momentary struggles. All of life's problems will not disappear if someone who is struggling merely “trusts in Jesus.” So many people go through life thinking that if they just have enough faith all of their troubles will disappear. If it were that simple, if we could just speak the name of Jesus and life's troubles would disappear, there would have been no need for the cross.

Jesus is not a sedative, but He is a savior. A Savior is necessary when someone needs rescuing. Picture a drowning man. He has been treading water and using all his energy just to survive, but hours have passed and he's exhausted. Now the water is getting rough, a storm is coming, and he has absolutely no hope of keeping his head above water. He can keep trying, but eventually His strength will run out. He can believe and trust and have faith all he wants to, but that isn't going to stop the storm or send a boat. What he needs is to be rescued. His situation is so incredibly bad and hopeless that there is absolutely nothing he can do about it. He needs someone to save him.

You say Jesus lives inside of you. Does he? I mean, where it really counts? Let's take an inventory.

Is Jesus in your racism?

Is He there in your homophobia?

Is He the one throwing stones at prostitutes and strippers?

Is it Jesus who is causing your self-righteousness and arrogance?