Is the Lord Christ Central?

For Christmas- My parents gave me a daily devotional book by Martin Lloyd- Jones. The first time I heard about this man- I was sitting at my first Passion conference in Nashville, TN. I was listening to John Piper speak and he was preaching about "Joy." He mentioned a quote from MLJ from the book- "Spiritual Depression." The words were so true and so biblical- I immediately wrote his name down and and searched and searched for this book. Eventually I came to find- his name was rare and I had to order it offline- and so I did, along with many other books. I have enjoyed reading MLJ over the past few years. He speaks of great TRUTH and Doctrine. I have learned so much from his teachings. And so, when i was skimming through this new devotional- one in particular caught my eye. It made me really step back and think how often is Christ the center of my life? and how much I TRULY need Him as my savior. I write this in hopes that whoever may stumble upon this- will see the light of Christ, his Love, and the spiritual encouragement your heart desires, so that we may become a better example in the light of Christ's name.

From "Walking with God- Day by Day"
June 4

Is the Lord Christ Central?

"In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace." Ephesians 1:7

If the Lord Jesus Christ is not crucial, central, vital, and occupying the very center of our meditation and our living, thinking, and praying, we have no right to look for revival. And yet, if you go and talk to many people, even in the church, about religion, you will find that they will talk to you at great length without ever mentioning the Lord Jesus Christ. I am never tired of putting it like this, because it is something that I am so familiar with in my experience as a pastor. People come and talk to me about these things, and I put my question to them. I say, "If you had to die tonight, how would you feel?"
"oh," they say, "I believe in God."
"All right," I reply, "what will you say when you stand in the presence of God? What are you relying on?"
"Well," they say, "I have always tried to live a good life, I have done my best, I have tried to do good."
"But nevertheless you have sinned, haven't you?"
"Oh yes, i have sinned."
"So," I ask, "what do you do about your sin?" What will you say to God, in the presence of God, about your sin?"
"Well," they say, "I believe God is a God of Love."
"And how does that help you?"
"Well," they say, "I believe that if I acknowledge my sin to God and then ask Him to forgive me, He does forgive me, and I am relying upon that."
The point I am trying to make is that they do not even mention the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. They seem to think they can go to God directly without the Lord Jesus Christ at all. There is a great deal of so-called Christianity that is quite Christ-less.

*A Thought to Ponder*
If the Lord Jesus Christ is not occupying the very center of our meditation, we have no right to look for revival.