All tagged following
Are we willing to abandon ourselves to Jesus Christ? Can we put down our own self-interests and pick up the cross? If we can't answer "Yes" to these two questions then we are distanced from Him, and at best, we are onlookers in the audience as Jesus teaches, and not disciples that follow Him wherever He leads...
Placing our relationship with Jesus above all others in our life; is this something that we are willing, or able, to do? Could you walk away from home and family if Jesus asked you to follow Him, and said “I will make you fishers of men."? You might do so if you had nothing there to live for, but what if you had a wonderful family, a life filled with happiness and wealth? What if you were living in complete contentment… would you still leave it all behind and go?
We would go hungry to feed our children, or thirsty to quench a dying friend’s thirst, but what are we willing to do without for the sake of Jesus Christ, or our Heavenly Father? What degree of discomfort would we be willing to face? Moses led the Israelites for 40 years in the desert, but would we walk a few short miles to church? Abraham was willing to place Isaac on the altar as a sacrifice, but are we willing to give our favorite suit of clothes to charity if the Lord asked this of us? Paul risked his eternal soul when he abandoned a life dedicated to following the law, and followed Jesus instead, so let’s ask ourselves what we would be willing to risk, give up, or what hardship we would endure for our faith.
As Christians we are called to follow Jesus, but is our gaze fixed upon the rewards we have been promised, and do we seek these rewards as if they were our ultimate goal? We speak openly about following Christ, but do we actually know what He is asking of us? Has He become a means to an end for us? It is easy to become so enamored with the good gifts we are offered for having believed, and obeyed, that we lose sight of the fact that Jesus is leading us into a relationship with God, and not simply to the gifts of His Spirit, and eternal life.
Sometimes we get caught up in one of Satan’s most devious snares that comes disguised as spirituality, but in reality draws us away from following Jesus as we should. Have you ever been so concerned about how God, or Jesus, is treating someone else that it nearly becomes an obsession with you? Have you boldly asked Jesus why He is behaving a certain way, either positive, or negatively, towards someone?