ease, comfort

“Follow Me” & Leave It Behind

“Follow Me” can be Difficult

Called my 2 year old to follow me this morning, he was headed for the cow manure part of our yard… with bare feet. Whatever it was he was headed for he had to forget it and head toward me. He struggled a bit turning to me then back to where he was headed. Then back to me, finally he came back.

It occurred to me that when Jesus asks us to follow him, he is at the same moment also asking us to leave certain things behind.

Leave behind what we are doing, perhaps leave behind our ambitions, our hobbies, our careers, our easy and comfortable way of thinking, that he does not agree with.

Depending on our past this can be difficult, leaving the comfortable and pleasant for…wherever he leads us.

We get him in exchange for our lives.

Only a repentant person can do this, it is not easy. An easy pleasant life can make following him more difficult. In this way a pleasant, wealth filled, easy lifestyle is a major curse. It hinders us from following the one true king, it delays us, it causes us to second guess our life path.

Sometimes I wonder that if when life feels difficult, it’s his mercy and may cause us to follow him more easily in the future. Because we just won’t follow him otherwise.

Anything in life that is easy, comfortable and entertaining look at with suspect. What is it’s source? if it’s not Jesus himself, rethink it.

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Matt 16:24

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The Real Followers of Christ

Followers Not Groupies

Most of the followers of Jesus mentioned in scripture followed not because of promises of victory. Not because of promises of overcoming circumstances, and not because of promises of health and wealth. There was something else that created real followers of Jesus Christ.

Those crowds of groupies had left him long before they had to make a commitment to follow. Those groupies are not useful to build his body on earth. Once they experienced or heard something hard they stopped following him, they took their blessing and went home. Jesus needs disciples, not groupies, to build his house on earth, he needs those who will respond to the command “follow me”. He needs those empty vessels cleaned out by death and repentance through the ministry of John the Baptist.

The disciples of Christ followed after Jesus because they got a glimpse of him, not of his goodie bag. These real followers of Jesus were not scared away by trouble. The trouble that Jesus sometimes pulled out of his bag was not a major issue in comparison to the magnitude of him.

They saw Jesus Christ in a spiritual way, they saw God in him. They beheld the extreme brightness of his glory, the glory of God himself. They later got to see him again, alive in themselves and in other people after he became a life-giving spirit. They realized he is the new creation they were hoping for, they knew he himself is the resurrection they look forward to. That alone secured their devotion and commitment and love forever. In good and bad, in sickness and health, in persecution and comfort whether confused by him or understanding everything.

IF we can see him

Today it seems most ministries assume the crowds are self-centered and just wanting ease and blessings. Relying on that is the foundation of what it is they build. They offer a lifetime of self-help tips in the form of ‘sermons’. But I think this generation is really no different from past generations. We like every just need to see him as he really is, the future. It is in our DNA to respond to him IF (and that is a massive life-changing IF) we see him as he really is. The death of sinful humanity in Adam and the new creation spreading over the earth and the cosmos.

If we can get a glimpse of the magnitude of the immensity of Jesus Christ and the future that he has. The eternal; and infinitely growing universe that is his kingdom. If we can get that glimpse of him and if others could just get that beautiful view of him within us. Then the generations would not abandon him anymore, they would flock. They would run to him in tears, regardless of the trouble following him brought to them. They would not be self-centered by default anymore, seeing no alternative. They would become real followers of Jesus Christ after seeing his glory.

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