Following Jesus is Hard
We love to read about the miracles Jesus did or the great come backs he gave to antagonizing religious types or penetrating questions he asked of would be followers. These types of events stimulate our curiosities and often cause us to think how neat it would be to have been a follower of Jesus with these early guys.
But surely we could "tack on" following Jesus in our Hummer, SUV, Pick Up or sweet Mini. It is a great misunderstanding or miscalculation to think we can "tack on" following Jesus in our up to date culture and lifestyle. "I'll follow you but first..." was a theme of some early would be followers of Jesus. They gained no space with Jesus for coming up with this "tacked on" thinking.
Jesus is aware of the thrill of the occasional Christian concert, great worship or retreat experience or insightful Bible study session we attend but he also knows the guts of following him is in the consistent daily routine of life. This is where it gets hard. We would rather "walk on water than land." It is on land where faith is more challenged than on the water because the land is the everyday life.
Or maybe you and I want an answer to some question or decision we need to make. We can mistakenly think that if we are following Jesus we will get a quick answer. To wait on an answer is hard because it does not usually happen in our time frame. Isaiah 55:8,9 says that God does not work the way we work and the way he thinks is way beyond how we think. It is hard enough to follow Jesus but to try and think like he does...well it isn't going to happen. This does not need to be a part of our hard following because we cannot usually approach what Jesus is thinking when it comes to our life.
How hard or easy has it been the last few weeks for you in following Jesus?
Has following Jesus been "tacked on" or built into the fabric of your weekly lifestyle?
Taking one step of doing what Jesus says to us is how we begin to follow Jesus. It is not usually easy but that is not the point.
God makes me stagger because I have no idea what in the world he is going to dare me to do next.
Luke 9:23 and John 6:53-58, 60 and 66 are words of Jesus that make me more than pause.
About Me
- Coffee With Dave
- I have worked with University and College students for 40 years helping them in their understanding of why we are on the planet. Connecting with others to figure out life and faith is what really does it for me.
3 comments:
thanks so much for your thoughts Dave. I think I've been "tacking on" Jesus these past few weeks instead of building him into the fabric of my life. :(
Brenda
Good word, Dave. This is the first time I had time to read your blog in a while. Thank you for being faithful to Jesus and setting the pace for those who follow after you. (Heb. 13:7)
Jack
Thanks, Dave, for these words. In the last several months, the Lord has been stretching me in some ways that are beautiful and risk-laden. I have seen how his thoughts are so beyond our thoughts, and it leads me to a choice of utter dependence on him or dependence on myself out of fear. I can tell those days when I'm just tacking him on, because it doesn't 'work' very well. Feeding on him is the best route, and I thank God for the challenges he's provided in my life to bring me to the beautiful moments of utter dependence.
I hope to come and hang with you and Frannie sometime in June. I was bummed it didn't work out this weekend for me to see her.
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