Reflective Bible Study

Following Jesus’ death on the cross, a previously unknown follower of Jesus steps onto the scene. The gospel of Matthew tells us three key details about the man known as Joseph of Arimathea, but while we don’t know many more details about this disciple, the role he plays when finally entering the gospel story is incredibly significant.

All four gospels share about Joseph, and John even goes the extra step in his gospel of including another secret disciple, Nicodemus, in his narrative.

However, instead of focusing in on what John describes, Matthew’s gospel includes a unique interlude event between Jesus’ death and resurrection, and for this reason, we will look at Matthew’s gospel for this podcast episode. Our event can be found in Matthew, chapter 27, and we will be reading from the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 57, Matthew tells us:

⁵⁷ That evening a rich disciple named Joseph from the town of Arimathea ⁵⁸ went and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate gave orders for it to be given to Joseph, ⁵⁹ who took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. ⁶⁰ Then Joseph put the body in his own tomb that had been cut into solid rock and had never been used. He rolled a big stone against the entrance to the tomb and went away.

⁶¹ All this time Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting across from the tomb.

Let’s pause reading here to draw our attention onto a couple of interesting details. This is the part of our event that all four gospel writers include, and we really only are given three relevant details about Joseph, the previously unknown disciple of Jesus.

The first detail I will mention is perhaps the least relevant to us living today. This detail is that Joseph was from Arimathea. Perhaps this was significant to people living in the region during the first century, but for our discussion happening over 2,000 years later, this detail is less significant.

The second detail, which comes a couple of verses later, was that Joseph owned a tomb that had never been used. This detail is significant because it was where he planned on burying Jesus’ body. In essence, Joseph planned on donating his tomb to Jesus. Whether Joseph believed Jesus would come back to life in a few days, or whether he was willing to give up his planned final resting place for Jesus to use, we see a unique but relevant gift to God in Joseph of Arimathea’s gift of a tomb.

The third detail is that Joseph was rich. This detail would be irrelevant except for the fact that he is introduced as being rich, which either implies that his wealth bought him influence with those in power in Judea, or that a portion of his riches were used to buy Jesus’ body from Pilate.

While all the gospel writers imply that Joseph simply asked for Jesus’ body, it would be irrelevant information to describe him as rich unless his riches were important to the narrative. I wonder if some of the Jewish leaders were upset with themselves for not asking for Jesus’ body themselves. While the request from anyone would have been considered out of the ordinary, Jesus’ enemies would have had ample reason for requesting Jesus’ body as Matthew soon points out.

Matthew, as well as several of the other gospels, point out that some women watched everything that happened, and while this is a side-note for our passage here, this detail becomes very relevant on resurrection morning.

After sharing the details about the women watching Joseph of Arimathea burying Jesus, Matthew goes on to describe something that none of the other gospels share. Picking back up in verse 62, Matthew tells that:

⁶² On the next day, which was a Sabbath, the chief priests and the Pharisees went together to Pilate. ⁶³ They said, “Sir, we remember what that liar said while he was still alive. He claimed that in three days he would come back from death. ⁶⁴ So please order the tomb to be carefully guarded for three days. If you don’t, his disciples may come and steal his body. They will tell the people that he has been raised to life, and this last lie will be worse than the first one.”

⁶⁵ Pilate said to them, “All right, take some of your soldiers and guard the tomb as well as you know how.” ⁶⁶ So they sealed it tight and placed soldiers there to guard it.

These details are incredibly significant for us to pay attention to. Nowhere in any of the gospels is the idea even hinted that the disciples were planning on stealing the body to spread a lie that Jesus rose again. This concern originated directly with the chief priests and Pharisees.

This is important for us to pay attention to for two reasons. The first is that the religious leaders set themselves up for depending on this lie even when it could easily be disproved. Because they craft this lie before anything has even happened which might warrant them using it, they blind themselves to the possibility that there would be a much better story they could spread. While a resurrected Jesus is hard to believe, so is a group of soldiers sleeping on the job while what they are guarding gets stolen from behind a sealed heavy stone. Equally unbelievable is a group of untrained men overpowering a band of highly skilled soldiers.

But the second reason we should pay attention to Matthew’s event is much more significant than the first. The only reason there were guards at the tomb and not disciples was because the Jewish leaders had more faith in Jesus’ words than even Jesus’ followers had. The religious leaders paid attention to Jesus’ message about being resurrected on the third day, while it would seem that either the disciples missed this message entirely, or they had dismissed it because of their preconceived ideas about who the Messiah would be.

Roman guards posted at the tomb, while posted there at the demands of the Jewish leaders, become the most valid testimony of a resurrected Jesus that could have been asked for. If the guards wouldn’t have been present at the tomb, then no one would have witnessed the resurrection and Jesus’ disciples would have been just as confused as the religious leaders. Instead, we find a group of religious leaders with a lie premade for their worst possible fear, and a group of followers who are confused when learning about an empty tomb.

Joseph of Arimathea’s gift was perfectly timed because it gave everyone the ability to track where Jesus body lay, and the fact that He was resurrected. Had Jesus’ body simply been thrown into the dump of bodies or into the trash heap to be burned, there would have been no way to prove or disprove a resurrection because no one would have known where the original body lay.

The gift Joseph gives Jesus saves the Easter story, because it gave the followers of Jesus – women included – a place to look for Jesus at, it gave the Jewish leaders a place to seal and watch closely, and it gave the Roman soldiers a clear place to guard. Joseph’s gift led a group of Roman soldiers into being the first witnesses of a resurrected Jewish Messiah – and perhaps some of these soldiers were among those who beat and mocked Jesus just days earlier.

We have been forgiven because of what happened on Calvary, but it is up to us to accept the forgiveness God offers, and place our trust, hope, and belief in Jesus for our ultimate salvation.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always open these challenges by saying, intentionally seek God first in your life. Also, accept God’s forgiveness and move forward in life trusting and leaning on Jesus for your salvation.

Also, as I regularly challenge you to do, continue intentionally prayerfully studying the Bible for yourself to grow closer to God and to help develop a better understanding of who He is and what He is like.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or lose sight of where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Over the past year, which I’ve loosely called our first chronological year moving through the gospels, we have been progressively moving forward through Jesus’ life and ministry looking at events that happened while He was here on earth. This episode marks the climax of Jesus’ life and ministry, and it focuses our attention onto something that happened while Jesus was hanging on the cross. While it is very tempting to jump to a different gospel that might give more or less insight on this event, the way Matthew frames what happened while Jesus was hanging on the cross is amazing in my mind.

Let’s read what happened. Our passage for this episode is found in Matthew’s gospel, chapter 27, and we will read it from the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 38, Matthew tells us that:

³⁸ Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left. ³⁹ Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads ⁴⁰ and saying, “You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!” ⁴¹ In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. ⁴² “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! He’s the king of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. ⁴³ He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” ⁴⁴ In the same way the rebels who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.

While reading this passage, I am reminded of a question I had a while ago. This question wondered whether Jesus had one big temptation that Satan pushed His way over the course of His life.

At the start of Jesus’ ministry, He is led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness where He was tempted, and the three temptations He faced are very significant. Also, throughout His ministry, Jesus is faced with many challenges. However, in the last weeks, days, and hours of Jesus’ life, He seems to be faced with one temptation that appeared to intensify the closer He comes to it – and that temptation is avoiding the cross.

Nothing about crucifixion weekend was a surprise to Jesus. While the disciples were all surprised with the crucifixion, and while Judas Iscariot happened to be the betrayer, none of the disciples believed Jesus would ultimately face the cross. Even Judas Iscariot, who chose to betray Jesus, believed Jesus would maneuver a way out of the religious leader’s trial and hostile plan. When Judas Iscariot realized Jesus wasn’t seeking to free Himself, Judas tried in vain to undo what he had done. Prior to the banquet where Jesus is anointed with expensive perfume, Judas likely didn’t have any clue that a traitor would show up within the twelve closest followers – or even that he would be that guy.

In my mind, leading up to the cross, I suspect Jesus’ big temptation was simply to avoid the cross and all the pain that would be associated with it. Even though no one in Jesus’ life could see it, for over three years of ministry, and over a decade more during His time living at home, Jesus knew and understood the cross as His end goal.

However, in our passage for this episode, Jesus has succeeded fighting off this temptation, because He is now on the cross. While some might think that Jesus’ temptations would now be minor in comparison, a new temptation presents itself and this new temptation might be even more powerful than the temptation to avoid the cross. Before being nailed to the cross Jesus had the option of, and the temptation to, avoid it entirely; after being nailed to the cross, Jesus faced the temptation to come down off of it.

While reading this passage and focusing on what the crowd says while they are mocking Jesus, we see a clear challenge and temptation for Jesus to prove who He was. We also see Satan behind all these challenges. In each of the three temptations in the wilderness, Satan beings by saying the words, “If you are the Son of God”, and here in our passage, this same challenge is repeated in the last half of verse 40, “Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!”

The only way this temptation works is if Jesus really had the power to come down from the cross. The two rebels did not have this power, but Jesus did. It was fully within Jesus’ ability to come off of the cross. However, if Jesus had chosen to display this power, everything He would have worked to accomplish would have been lost. If Jesus abandoned the cross, Satan would have won – and the empty belief the priests and Jewish leaders were promising to give to Jesus would have meant nothing.

The insults thrown at Jesus while He is on the cross range from challenging Jesus’ ability, to challenging His mission, to tempting Him with additional people who will believe, all the way to challenging Jesus’ faith and trust in God.

In the few minutes we have left in this episode, let’s look closer at these temptations.

The first temptation Jesus faced was challenging His ability to come off of the cross. However, it did not occur to those present that, Jesus also had the choice to stay on the cross. Jesus chose to stay on the cross because His mission was more important than showing off His ability.

The second temptation Jesus faced challenged His mission. However, no one present even suspected or considered that hanging on the cross was the fulfillment of Jesus’ mission to this earth. Jesus fulfilled His mission on the cross because it is the way for His followers to receive salvation.

The third temptation Jesus faced challenged Him as the king of Israel. However, this temptation only works for someone who is interested in seeking glory, status, and position for themselves. Jesus was crowned King, but He chose to only accept this glory from God the Father after ascending into heaven and not from a group of hate-filled humans.

The last temptation that Matthew draws our attention onto is whether God would want to rescue Jesus from the cross. From Jesus’ perspective, this is a challenge of doubt, but it also is a challenge that is more directed towards God the Father Himself. In a similar way to Jesus’ big temptation being centered on the cross, whether it was avoiding it or coming down from it, God the Father’s gets drawn into this temptation because at His Son’s greatest moment of need, the temptation is present to rescue Jesus from the cross.

However, in all these temptations, both Jesus and God the Father kept a larger time frame in view. All the temptations present in this event focused on the moment of pain, and shortening or avoiding it. While I am sure it was difficult to do in the moment, both Jesus and God kept their perspective on eternity. While this moment in time is arguably the darkest point in all of human history, God the Father and Jesus kept their perspective on the big picture, and on how this sacrifice would open the way for all of God’s people to experience eternity with God in heaven.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you do to, intentionally seek God first in your life and if you are facing a big temptation or a challenge to your faith, consider meeting the problem with a broader frame of time. While problems we face today seem big, if we expand out the challenge we have today and look at it from the perspective of our lifetime, almost none of today’s problems seems that big.

For encouragement and because I always challenge you to do so, continue praying and studying the Bible for yourself. As you read and study, look for examples of how God has worked behind the scenes to help those who trust in Him. I’m positive you will discover more places where God helped than you first realized or thought.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or give up on where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

The passage we are focusing on for this podcast episode may be short, but the implications it shares are powerful when we pause and think about them. We have come to the morning of Jesus’ crucifixion, and are looking at an event that happens following Jesus being condemned to death, but before He begins the walk to the place where He will be crucified.

Three of the four gospels share this event, and for this podcast episode, we’ll look at Mark’s version of what happened. We can find this event in the gospel of Mark, chapter 15, and we will read it using the New International Version. Beginning in verse 16, Mark tells us that:

¹⁶ The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. ¹⁷ They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. ¹⁸ And they began to call out to him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” ¹⁹ Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. ²⁰ And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.

This is one of the cruelest parts of the Bible, and it has been reserved for describing how Jesus was treated by the ruling government of humanity. However, what the soldiers miss in their abuse and treatment of Jesus is that His very existence and self-sacrifice made Him worthy of being king. The Roman soldiers’ only picture of a king was the military king that Rome had in its emperor.

An empire focused on ruling through military strength could only see a neighboring king as a potential threat. If the neighboring king’s forces were weaker than the military empire’s, then the empire would attack, capture, and absorb the neighboring king’s territory. Only in a case where there were two kings of somewhat equal strength, could there be a co-existing set of kingdoms.

All the Roman soldiers saw in Jesus was a weak threat to their empire. Jesus didn’t walk like any leader they respected, He didn’t talk strategy like they talked strategy, and He was wholly uninterested in military conquests like they were. But what is interesting is that while they were mocking Jesus, they were actually speaking something very profound.

While Jesus was dressed up like an earthly king and they were hitting Him and spitting on Him, Mark tells us in verse 18 that they began calling Him, “King of the Jews”. This is significant because as God’s promised Messiah, Jesus would technically be King of the Jews – if He were only the Messiah for the Jews.

However, Jesus came as the promised Messiah for all humankind because He was promised and foreshadowed from the very first sin and sacrifice. In a subtle way, these Roman soldiers didn’t realize that even by mockingly claiming that Jesus was the King of the Jews, they were incriminating themselves because Jewish scriptures pointed to God’s Messiah being humanity’s eventual King.

While the Jewish leaders had rejected their King and handed Him over to the Romans to crucify Him, the Romans, who represented the broad group of gentiles living throughout history, also reject Jesus as their King. This is significant because while Jesus had a few followers, they were nowhere to be found which meant that they were not a threat – at least in the Roman government’s eyes.

However, as we are talking about this together, even though they don’t believe Jesus to be special or even significant, these Roman soldiers call Jesus a King, and Mark tells us that they fell on their knees and paid homage to Him. One synonym for the word homage is worship. Even if they didn’t worship Jesus from their hearts, we see evidence that they acknowledged Jesus’ role as King and His right to be respected and worshiped.

But did their admission mean anything if everything they did and said was rooted with the motives of hostility? That I cannot say for sure, but I am just sharing an interesting parallel that is worth us paying attention to.

When talking about hollow and shallow worship hurting God, I wonder how many of us today have ever fallen into this category of people. While we weren’t among the Roman soldiers who were actively hurting Jesus with their words and their actions, I wonder if we at times are not unlike these soldiers when we choose to bring hollow, shallow, and meaningless worship to God.

God desires our hearts, and there are remarkable similarities of cruelty between us and these Roman persecutors if we approach God with our hearts in worship only to pull away and return home still holding the gift He desires the most.

In this record of Jesus’ torture, I wonder if Satan had a hand in the empty worship that the Roman’s presented to Jesus – knowing that it would hurt Him and God on a spiritual level just like the hollow and shallow religion of the Jews at that time was nothing like what God had intended.

This all prompts me to wonder why Jesus would go through with a death with this much torture and pain when any death would appear to work. While tragic, Jesus could have written prophecy to describe a death from a heart attack in the garden while in prayer. However, I think that through the type of death Jesus chose, we are able to learn more about God and His character.

By dying in the way that He did, Jesus demonstrated to the entire world and universe how much God loves everyone He created. He chose humanity because we are the ones actively rebelling against Him, and we are the ones Satan had successfully blinded. Jesus came to show us how much God loved each of us, and through the torture on the road to death that Jesus was willing to face for us, we can see a glimpse of just how much we are valued by God.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

First, be thankful towards God for loving us through Jesus and for showing us how deep and amazing He loves each of us through the way Jesus chose to die. While Jesus could have written prophecy and history to include any type of death that could be imagined, when we look at how Jesus chose to die, it appears as though He picked the worst, most painful, humiliating death that humanity has ever invented.

Also, be sure to pray and study the Bible for yourself and pay special attention to the week of the crucifixion, because nothing in this week happened by chance – everything that we read was strategically planned out from the beginning of history. When we do study, we should prayerfully come before God and give Him our hearts in worship. After giving our hearts to God, we should be willing to submit our lives to Him and His will. While our physical heart stays in our body to pump blood through our veins and arteries, we should always leave our spiritual hearts with God, and any time we are tempted to take it back, we should remind ourselves of what Jesus did for us. In the big picture, a gift of our heart is the least we could do to say thank you for everything God has done for us.

And as I end every set of challenges by saying in one way or another, never stop short of, back away from, chicken out of, or ignore where God wants to lead you to in your life with Him!

Over the past several episodes in this first chronological year moving through events from Jesus’ life, we have looked closer at details surrounding the 24 hours leading up to Jesus being hung on the cross. Our last episode focused in on how Jesus was brought before a trial of religious leaders, and this episode, we move forward to Jesus’ trial before Pilate, the Roman governor of that region.

However, while some people might want to skim over or discount Jesus’ trial before Pilate, this event has some very interesting and unique details. It is also interesting to note that each gospel includes unique details about this event, and plenty of things happened at this trial that make it unlikely to have happened at any other time.

Let’s read John’s version of the trial for this podcast episode. Jesus’ trial before Pilate can be found in the gospel of John, chapter 18, and let’s read it using the New International Version of the Bible. Starting in verse 28, John tells us that:

²⁸ Then the Jewish leaders took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted to be able to eat the Passover. ²⁹ So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you bringing against this man?”

³⁰ “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”

³¹ Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”

“But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected. ³² This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.

³³ Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”

³⁴ “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”

³⁵ “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

³⁶ Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

³⁷ “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

³⁸ “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him. ³⁹ But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?”

⁴⁰ They shouted back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!” Now Barabbas had taken part in an uprising.

While reading this passage, a number of things stood out in my mind.

The first thing in this passage that stands out in my mind is a detail John shares at the very beginning of this passage. The Jewish leaders bring Jesus to Pilate, but they all do not enter the palace. The ceremonial cleanliness of these religious leaders is more important to them than the life of the person they already have placed judgment on. While a normal trial happens in a courtroom or in a palace with the accusers present to give their testimony, because of when this trial happened, Jesus was brought in separate from those who were accusing Him, making this trial unique – and very distinct – in the trials of that time.

The second thing that really stands out as unique to Jesus’ trial is that no official charge is given against Jesus. While other gospel writers include a very generic charge against Jesus, John opts to share that they simply don’t have any charge to share. In a courtroom setting, a charge must be given for there to be a prosecution and defense. The Jewish leaders brought Jesus to Pilate but when asked for a charge they simply say that Jesus is a criminal without sharing any details of His supposed crime. When Pilate pushes back, he learns that they are demanding the death penalty – all without ever hearing what the accusation is.

Perhaps this is by design, because if any actual charge came forward, Pilate may have completely dismissed the case and spared Jesus’ life. An abstract and unspecified charge could let the imagination of each person create a just reason for the death penalty – regardless of the truth of reality.

The next thing to stand out in this passage as interesting in my mind is Pilate’s conversation with Jesus. Instead of claiming innocence, Jesus speaks relatively openly with Pilate, talking in a way that sort of answers Pilate’s questions, but not using the words that Pilate is searching for. I suspect that Pilate understands the charge against Jesus as being the King of the Jews, from what we see recorded in other gospels, but in this extended conversation, Jesus does not display any of the usual characteristics or personality traits one would find in a typical king.

However, while Pilate is fishing for Jesus to confirm that He claims to be a king, Jesus instead says that His kingdom is not of this world. In this conversation, Jesus comes about as close as He does in any conversation with someone to revealing His divine nature. With a kingdom that is not in this world, and a solid knowledge of His purpose for coming into the world in the first place, Jesus subtly positions Himself alongside the legends of the Roman gods who occasionally had interactions with humans. In Pilate’s mind, if Jesus was in a similar position as one of the Roman gods, then it would be best not to anger Him.

It is interesting that from the way Jesus frames Himself, it is as though Jesus prompts Pilate to understand that if Jesus is the God of anything, He is the God of Truth. It is perfectly understandable to picture Pilate having doubts and/or questions regarding this since he was a Roman ruling a very non-Roman religious place. Similar to the secular and Christian worlds of today, it is easy to see the faults of both sides, and because of this when both sides have obvious flaws, genuine truth is hard to find.

Probably the strangest thing in my mind in this entire passage is how it ends – specifically from Pilate’s perspective. First, Pilate finds no basis for a charge against Jesus, but then he turns around and thinks that those present – the ones who brought Jesus to trial – would be interested in releasing Him. God’s hand must have been at work in this oversight because at any other trial, a person who has no basis for a charge is simply released apart from any custom present. The custom of freeing a prisoner was for guilty people, and all throughout Jesus’ conversation with Pilate, right up till the very end, Jesus is never assumed as being guilty. At the very end of this passage, when Jesus is condemned to death, Jesus also assumes the guilt of all humanity when He does not deserve it.

All the beating, punishment, and His eventual death is Jesus taking all of humanity’s guilt and punishment onto Himself when He had done nothing to warrant it. The secular governor is just as guilty as the hate-filled religious leaders. Both the world and the leaders of God’s people are equally responsible for Jesus’ death. Pilate absent-mindedly switches from defending Jesus’ innocence to assuming He is already guilty, which then allows the Jewish leaders the opening to demand His death.

And Jesus is a willing participant. He came to take our place, to take the punishment, so that we have the opportunity and the choice to accept God’s gift of an eternal future with Him. Showing us God’s love and opening the way for us to experience a new life with God is the truth Jesus came to both model and share.

As we come to the end of another podcast episode, here are the challenges I will leave you with:

As I always challenge you to do, intentionally put God and Jesus first in your life. Remember that Jesus took your punishment onto Himself when He didn’t deserve it so that you wouldn’t have to face the death you deserve. Jesus facing the cross shows us how much God loves each of us, and what He was willing to do to redeem us from this sin-filled world.

Also, as I always challenge you to do, continue to pray and study the Bible for yourself, looking for places and ways that it can help you grow closer to Jesus. While other people can give you ideas to think about, test everything you read, hear, and see against the truth of the Bible to know whether it is spiritually true and whether it will stand the test of eternity.

And in whatever place you are at in your life, never belittle yourself into thinking that God cannot use you. God created you with a purpose and you should never let anything derail you from moving fully into His purpose for your life with Him!