Welcome to our Thursday devotional. I want to talk to you a little bit about one of the most fascinating characters in the scriptures, and that is Judas. In Luke, the 22nd chapter, the scriptures talk about Judas, and it says in verse 3, then Satan entered into Judas Iscariot, who was one of the 12 disciples, and he went to the leading priests and captains of the temple guard to discuss the best way to betray Jesus to them.

It's fascinating, isn't it, that Judas was actually around Jesus all this time with the rest of his disciples. He saw miracles. He saw Jesus do amazing things. Yet, at this point, he was willing to betray Jesus. This should be a sobering reminder to all of us that we can actually be in church, in the presence of Jesus, in the presence of people's lives actually being changed and transformed. If you're in a good, healthy church, you'll see that. You'll see all kinds of evidences of the power of God, but here's the thought. You can actually be in the vicinity of Jesus, but not really know him, not really embrace who he is.

So I want to encourage all of us, please don't have a shallow relationship with Jesus, because it's really our choice. I want to encourage you to dive in, even in your struggles and your disappointments. Wrestle with God. Discover his goodness in his grace and his grace and discover that you can actually trust him, even when you don't understand. And understand there is such a sober warning here. We can be in the presence of God, be around him, but not really know him. Today, this Easter, I want to encourage you to contemplate deeply on the goodness of God and who Jesus is, and make sure that you're not just around Jesus, but you embrace him. You love him, and you get that close personal connection with him. And if you do that, Easter will mean a lot to you. You'll be blessed, and you're going to put your priorities in the thing that matters most.

Let's close with a prayer. Father, I thank you for this day, this Thursday. I pray, Lord God, that you would strengthen us and help us to get into a deep, connected relationship with you, not something shallow. I pray that we wouldn't tolerate shallow when we can have something that's deep and beautiful. And I thank you for that, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen.