If you are going to be my disciple, you must deny yourself and take up your cross and follow me - Jesus In an account found in John 6, Jesus has a HUGE crowd; is at the height of popularity; could, potentially, stop and build the first 'mega' church; and He has the chance to go down in history as the first to immediately launch a fellowship with 20,000 attenders. Instead, He creates an intersection (which, by the way, He feels free to do over and over as people come alongside Him in His journeys). Jesus says that the way of followship is beautiful and filled with life, passion, and purpose. Also, the way of Christ is sacrifice and suffering and abandon to personal will so that we can live for the ultimate will and purpose - the glory and supremacy of Christ in all things, for all good things glorious.
Jesus does the unthinkable and calls the crowd to radical commitment to His Lordship and to worship of Him alone. The crowd thins.... a few remain... and those few pour out their lives as a drink offering before the Lord and their lives are marked with eternal value and consequence.
I long for the Emmanuel family to intersect with the life-consuming call of Christ. If we choose to follow, the Christ-life lived through us will lend itself to more than we can ask or imagine. There will be more life...more passion... more focus..... more challenge....more fullness....more of His glory.
Jesus has a pretty simple realization. Not all will follow. That's why He says, "If".. If you want to follow, then realize that there will be no small gods on the path. There will be no finite forms of worship. No personal agendas. No wasteful idols. The road to Christ will hold only one throne and one Person worthy of our worship. To Him (Jesus), who sits on the throne; He will receive all honor, glory, dominion, and worship forever.
Sadly, it seems that many will choose a path littered with small dreams, aspirations, idols, agendas, with little to no eternal consequence.
If anyone wants to follow after Christ, the invitation involves laying down of self and picking up one's cross and running hard after Him. I long to give chase. I long to do that within a pack of followers who charge after the heart of the King. As an Emmanuel family, let's go all in together. Our answer, together, being "Yes, Lord", we will go wherever, do whatever, speak to whoever, give whenever... Our answer, before You ever ask is "Yes, Lord!" Let's go all in!
Feel free to comment below.
By Grace... For Glory,
Mark
2 comments:
There are many exciting aspects to dying...the greatest, of course, is the resurrected being so much better than that to which we die. Obedience costs...it IS an intersection...but as difficult, and sometimes impossible as it may seem, the regrets are zilch (is that still a word?) and the rewards are immeasurable. The old junk stinks, man; but the resurrected is delightful. I love the fact that our Abba is a gentleman...He doesn't force us. He leads us to the fresh Living Water who quenches the thirst that we thought was already satisfied while drinking stagnant water. Yep, we are definitely sheep who need a Shepherd to lead us to green pastures and slow, clean streams of water. When I have died to some seemingly big things in my life, I look back and wonder 'what was the appeal?'
Dying is giving Abba an opportunity to be God in a big way. He will NEVER disappoint.
Beautiful word. I am chewing on your response, Dusty. Thanks!
Mark
Post a Comment