FOLLOWING JESUS – Part 2 of 2

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”  (Luke 9: 23)

The first two words of Luke 9:23 immediately stand out: “if anyone.” The word if leaves room for doubt. You certainly can choose someone or something else to follow. But that’s your decision, the promise of finding yourself with meaning and purpose doesn’t apply. If also indicates that every convert or new disciple must make the choice to follow Jesus. While we make that decision at the point of repentance and salvation, we also make it at crucial times in our lives and make it every day. That’s why Jesus used the word daily in verse 23.

Choosing the life that Jesus offers also involves choosing a way of life – a life of self-denial and submission... We don’t just amble our way into discipleship. We make a conscious decision to live by faith. We agree to join others who are committed to following Jesus rather than trying to lead Jesus. We fundamentally give up the right to run our own life. In other words, you can follow your heart, your dreams, your gifts, your personality profile, and seek the right fit. But all that is inferior to following Jesus. 

-- Bill Hull in “The Complete Book of Discipleship: On Being and Making Followers of Christ” 

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TRUSTING IN GOD OUR SAVIOR

“But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, ‘Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.’”  (Isaiah 43:1-3a NLT)

What do we do when the earth shakes, the mountains split in two, and the sun and the moon go dark?

We do exactly what we should do every day: live the gospel as Jesus preached it and lived it, trusting not in ourselves nor in the material world but in God, who was at the beginning and will be still after the end.

-- Mary Anna Vidakovich in “Meeting God on the Mountain”

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EVEN THOUGH… I WILL

On page after page of Scripture, we find people in situations where life has closed in on them. It might seem logical for them to chuck their faith. We wouldn’t be surprised if they turned away from God in the midst of difficulty, or if they leaned toward their favorite addiction in an attempt to feel better. Unfortunately, that’s what too many people do when the going gets tough.

See, when life turns hard for us, we’re almost always tempted to welcome the Enemy at our table. But when we realize that Jesus invites us to follow Him even though life is hard, we discover the foundational truth for winning the battle of our minds. That is the depth of faith we see throughout the Bible…

The prophet Habakkuk stated it clearly when he cried out:
“Even though the fig trees have no fruit
    and no grapes grow on the vines,
even though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no grain,
even though the sheep all die
    and the cattle stalls are empty,
I will still be joyful and glad,
    because the Lord God is my savior.”  (Habakkuk 3:17-18 GNT)

The last two lines indicate a huge faith. And did you notice the two phrases repeated three times in Habakkuk’s prayer?

“Even though… I will…”

These two phrases lay out a powerful cause-and-effect relationship as an example for us to follow. Even though bad things happen, I will still praise the Lord. 

– Louie Giglio in “Don’t Give the Enemy a Seat at Your Table”

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GROWTH MEANS MATURITY

“What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”  (James 2:14-17 NIV)

If we are to be mature we must get hold of a mature faith -- or better, it must get hold of us. For the immaturities of our faith will soon show themselves in immaturities in our actions and our attitudes. “The creed of today becomes the deed of tomorrow.” Nothing can be more immature than the oft-repeated statement: “It doesn’t matter what you believe just so you live right.” For belief is literally by-lief, by-life -- the thing you live by. And if your belief is wrong your life will be wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t mean to say that if you have a correct belief you’ll necessarily have a correct life. That doesn’t follow. The creed, to be a creed, must be a vital rather than a verbal one. For the only thing we really believe in is the thing we believe in enough to act upon. Your deed is your creed. But it does matter what you hold as the basic assumptions of your life. If you have no staring point, you’ll have no ending point. 

-- E. Stanley Jones in “Christian Maturity”

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EVERY CHRISTIAN A WITNESS

Jesus replied, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  (Acts 1:8 NIV)

Every Christian is a witness for Christ.  We cannot bear the name Christian without indicating by our words and deeds what Christ means to us.  We are empowered by our faith.  We also invest the word Christian with meaning by the way we live our faith.  The only gospel some of our friends will ever know will come from their relationship with us.  We are bearers of the best news in the world.  And we owe it to those we love to cultivate our abilities at sharing this news with them.

-- Harold K. Bates in “Witness for Christ”

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CHILDLIKE FAITH: RECKLESS JOY

So, exactly what is a “childlike faith?” For starters, it’s something not to be taken lightly. In Matthew 19:14, when the disciples rebuke those who have brought little children to Jesus, what does Jesus say? “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

Clearly, Jesus is big on children. He sees something special in them. He defends them… But what is it about children’s approach to faith that’s so engaging? Though Jesus doesn’t get specific about that, the answer is in their approach to life. As children, we are not jaded by the sophistication of the world. We’re real. We’re humble. We’re willing to admit our needs and trust that others can help us. We’re unpretentious and adventurous. We’re lighthearted and imaginative. And we’re fearless, willing to take a risk -- a juvenile version of what the early twentieth-century Bible teacher Oswald Chambers calls “reckless joy.”

And then, of course, we grow up. And what happens? In many cases, we get jaded by the world. Instead of being real, we rationalize behaviors. We learn to put our personal spin on our shortcomings rather than deal with them. We become pretentious. We throw ourselves into all sorts of physical adventure but are cowardly regarding relationships, flitting from one person to the next, lacking the courage to commit.

We hide our needs from others. From God. From ourselves. We play it safe, settling for too little in life. Rather than live by faith, we embrace one of the many forms of legalism, be it a secular or religious version. Rather than try to please God with simple faith, we complicate things by trying to prove to Him how worthy we are by our works. We’re full of fear, but we mask it with everything from busyness to addictions to rationalization, as we desperately seek to convince ourselves that we’re content. In reality, we know little of Chamber’s “reckless joy.” 

-- Bob Welch in “52 Little Lessons from It’s a Wonderful Life”

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