TD Jakes - How to Never Lose Sight of What You Have
So it was with the feast of the Passover; it had become a tradition, and every year they gathered together with all their families and friends. It was time for them to convene, socialize, interact, and meet other people in Jerusalem to have a wonderful time. They came every year until the twelfth year, which was a turning point. The family came each year to worship. This was not Jesus’s first feast; the first thing the Bible tells us is that this is not just a national tradition. This is not just a tradition for believers; this is a tradition for our family. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
Every year they came up as a ritual to Jerusalem to honor the Passover. At first glance, there seems to be no real message here. Most parents have experienced that moment of panic when you look around and can’t find your child for a moment. You get scared and feel disrupted. At first, it seems like that, but normally, in a moment or two, you lay your hands on them or say, «Oh, I didn’t see you go into that store without me!» You get it straightened out.
But the problem I have here is that the family has become so engrossed in peripheral things that they have forgotten the main thing. The problem I have is that, in this case, not only have they forgotten their child—Jesus is the Passover. Oh, you didn’t hear what I said! I said Jesus is the Passover! So while they are celebrating the shadow, they are bringing the reality to the shadow. The reality is always greater than the shadow. I have a shadow up here, but my shadow is not as valuable as I am; I cast the shadow; the shadow doesn’t cast me. They are bringing the real Passover to celebrate the shadow of which the lamb was only a representative.
As a substitute, Jesus is the real deal. Ah, give me a minute; let me praise Him! I want to praise Him for being the real deal. He’s not a shadow; He’s not a caricature; He’s not a joke; He’s not an image; He’s not a reflection; He is my feast of the Passover. He is my feast of unleavened bread; yes, my feast of Pentecost! He is my kinsman redeemer; He is my day star; He is my bulwark; He is my mighty God; He is my everlasting Father. I wish I had a church that knew something about praising! He is of God; he that cometh to God must first believe that He is.
Somebody say it makes me think from a theological perspective that what they were bringing was greater than where they were going. Think about that with me. They were bringing the Lamb of God to the feasts of a substitute. So what they had with them was more important than where they were going. I want you to think about that because there’s something I want you to grasp: what you have with you is more important than where you’re going. I understand you have goals; I understand you have plans for 2021; I understand you have strategies; I understand you have purpose; I understand you have vision; but what you have with you is better and more important than where you are going.
If you lose what you have going after what you want— I said if you lose what you have going after what you want, your feast is going to turn into a disaster. What good is it to have a feast if it costs what you have going after what you want? That’s what’s wrong with us. Too many unscrupulous people are willing to sacrifice what you have to get what you want. The Bible says it this way: what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul? What does it mean for you to advance economically if you lose your soul? What does it mean for you to end up running a business if you lose your soul? What does it mean to have a bigger house if you lose your soul? What does it mean to collect more degrees if you lose your soul? I want you to value what you have, not just what you’re going to.
But we have an age of people that have no appreciation for what they have. They’re so excited about where they’re going that they have lost sight of what they have, and like this family, they fall into the fallacy—the fallacy of reasoning—which makes an argument invalid. They had a failure of reasoning that this is more important than that. Somebody is wrestling with a decision, and the Lord sent me here to tell you that this is more important than that.
What you get right now is better than anything you’re trying to go after in your life, and in the long run, it may not look good right now; it may not seem valuable right now; it may seem unimportant right now because it hasn’t finished growing up yet. He’s just 12. It may not seem consequential; it may not seem relevant; it may not seem majestic; it may not seem central to what you’re trying to create in your life. But give me some time—he’s just 12! What has God placed inside of you that’s just 12, that you don’t think is particularly important, because you have evaluated it prematurely and created a fallacy?
So we have the festival, we have the family, and then we have the fallacy of making a bad decision. We have the festival, we have the family, and we have the fallacy of making a bad decision. The festival, the family, and the fallacy of making a bad decision. Because what God has given you needs time to grow up, I feel like what God has given you needs time to grow up. It needs time to grow up—it’s just 12. It’s just 12. What God has given you is significant; despise not the day of small beginnings—he’s just 12. He’s just 12. He’s just 12.
You were bringing your Redeemer to celebrate redemption, but you didn’t recognize that the redemption is not in where you’re going; the redemption is of what you already have. Despise not the day of small beginnings; it’s just 12. But it’s going to grow; it’s going to grow. What God has given you is going to grow; it’s going to grow— not just to bless you, but to bless you and your children, and your children’s children, and your children’s children’s children. I heard somebody in the spirit say, «It’s too late for me; I’m too old.» Baby girl, it ain’t about you. What God has for you is going to affect generation after generation after generation. So enjoy whatever you have to endure, endure, because it’s just 12.
I spent 10 years of my life driving over an hour back and forth to pastor 20 people, 10 people, and teach Bible class for seven people for 10 years—an entire decade! Nobody called me to be on CNN, CBN, or TVN, or anything—nothing. 10 years! We cooked dinners for all the members and fed them out of our own house. For 10 years, I scuffled and struggled, and it would have been easy to throw up my hands and say, «This doesn’t work,» but it was just 12. What have you got that’s going to be amazing but you’re trying to rush the process and you don’t understand—it’s just 12. They brought the Lion of the Tribe of Judah to Jerusalem; they brought the King of the Jews to Jerusalem; they brought the Mighty God to Jerusalem; they brought the Prince of Peace to Jerusalem; they brought the Ancient of Days to Jerusalem; they brought the I AM that I AM to Jerusalem; they brought Elohim to Jerusalem; they brought the Everlasting Father to Jerusalem. But they didn’t recognize because it was just 12.