I read someone who wrote “I sympathize with the old fellow who says there are two things he will not do--fly or swim. ‘I'm not going to do anything," he says, "that when you stop, you die.’" I sympathize with that guy but he’s overlooking somethings like breathing and eating too…but I get it. There are some things that once you get in the water or in the air…you just have to keep going! Jesus said that our relationship with him is something like that. Jesus didn’t want people to just agree with him, but the call was to follow him. He wasn’t asking for converts only but for disciples. He said that if we wanted to be his follower, we would have to give up our own way, take up our cross every day and follow him. That’s a pretty awesome task and folks might hear that and say “Well if I do that, I will have to be focused on him every single day”. Yeah…that’s the idea. And in that same chapter, Luke records Jesus saying, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” He is saying…if you get in the water or the air with me…you are going to have to keep swimming or flying! If we don’t, what happens? Well, if we don’t focus on Christ and make him the priority…we start the process of stopping and we begin to die…spiritually. We can keep doing the same old things and look pretty much the same, but our relationship with God becomes secondary to what we would call the business of living. But the real business and the real living is in Christ alone. So, what are some things to help us? The same three things that have always been a bottom-line focus for us. Pray, talk to God. Read that Bible, it isn’t just history, it is a living entity that God will use to encourage you, correct you and give you hope. And be in church. Jesus didn’t call us to a “Lone Ranger” relationship with him. When you are born again, you are born into the church…with every other follower of Jesus. You have gifts that everyone else has, you can bring encouragement to every other person there and you will find a family that you will be with even when your journey on this earth is over. Don’t give up on that meeting together. So, for me and those I love, I’m going to swim and I’m going to fly whenever I get the chance and I’m going to follow this Jesus of the Bible as best I can. Join me. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
(Luke 9:23 NLT) Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ
(Luke 9:23 NLT) Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
Remember I’m praying for you…
PJ