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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy
word.
“In the same way, those
of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be My disciples.”
Luke 14:28-33
This ends
today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
What is required to be a
true disciple of Jesus?
As we have seen through
this short series, our Savior has told us we need to give Him all our love, fully
commit ourselves to His service, carrying our cross to death if need be, and to
never underestimate what is required when we choose to be His follower.
So what is required?
We find the answer in
the final devotion in this series through a single verse from the 14th chapter
of Luke:
“In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have
cannot be My disciples.” Luke 14:28-33
What is Jesus asking us
to give up?
Everything.
Not just some things and
not others.
Not just the things we
desire to give up.
Everything.
In other words, Jesus
expects our absolute surrender when we choose to be His follower. Unless we’re
willing to do that, we can’t be His disciple.
Need an example?
Here’s one straight from
the scriptures:
As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers,
Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the
lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send
you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed Him.
Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee
and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing
their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their
father and followed Him. Matthew 4:18-22
Four ordinary fishermen,
all just doing their jobs and in the case of James and John, doing it with
their father Zebedee. They all had one other thing in common as well. They all
left their nets, and everything else behind to answer Jesus’ call to “fish for
people”.
Today, Jesus is still
actively recruiting “fishermen” and “fisherwomen” who are willing to count the
cost and give everything to follow Him, those who will offer complete surrender
to include:
1. Their time.
Through every day we are
blessed to live, we are given 24 hours, time that Jesus demands from us as He
asks us to give everything to be a disciple.
2. Their thoughts.
Jesus was always about
His Father’s business. There wasn’t a time that His thoughts weren’t aligned
with God’s. If we’re going to be a true Christ follower, a people about our
Savior’s business, then we need to ensure our thoughts are aligned with His.
3. Their words and
actions which in sum will define their personality.
Once our thoughts are
one with Jesus, then we can expect our words and actions to situate themselves
with Him as well, something critical if we’re not only going to be His disciple
but seen as a Christian as well. And since our words and actions lead us to be
who we are, then our personality should be one that is Christ-like so that when
others experience us, they get to experience who Jesus is through the way we
live.
This leads to the final
aspect of total submission that Jesus expects from His followers:
4. Their lives.
Jesus was willing to
give up His life totally, even unto death on the cross in order to save us. If
we are going to be His followers, we need to be willing to give up our lives as
well and everything we have within them. Everything like work and possessions
and money, even life itself if need be.
Total surrender is just
that…total. It’s the cost we need to count when choosing to become a disciple
for Jesus who said no one can be His follower unless they give everything.
It sounds hard but no
one said being a Christian was going to be easy.
You only need to look at
Jesus’ life, the one we are called to make our own, to see that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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