Have you ever had something that you really liked and didn't want to give it up? Have you ever enjoyed something so much that you didn't want to change? One more question; have you ever been guilty of doing things in your life, and even though you know it is wrong, you justify it to the point that you convince yourself that it is okay? I think that if we were all honest about it, we would answer all three of these questions with a resounding 'YES'. In the book of Matthew, we find Jesus preaching by the Sea of Galilee. He comes upon Peter and Andrew, his brother, casting nets into the sea: for they were fishers (vs. 18). Verse 19 says, "FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men." The two key words in this passage are "FOLLOW ME." As I looked at this passage I wondered, do we really follow HIM?
We have been on the road a whole lot these last two months, and we have had the opportunity to see a number of great churches in our area. It always amazes me how much we are all alike. What does Jesus mean when HE said, "FOLLOW ME?" I noticed in an article I read, a couple of days ago, that people going to church have fallen from about 49% in the 90's to 43% now. What is wrong with this picture? In another article I read, it was said that 2 out of 3 Christians believe that you can be spiritual and serve God without going to church. Is there something wrong with that? I know a preacher who has started a house church. People are coming on Sundays, they are studying God's Word, and doing all these things, I suppose, and they have no intention of building a building and growing. Is this scriptural? Some would argue that it is, but again others would argue the opposite.
I've come to a conclusion about some things that God has convicted me about. I want to share them with you. What does it take to follow Christ?
IT TAKES US TOTALLY SURRENDERING TO HIM
Remember the song, "I Surrender All?" It reads this way:
All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender, Humbly at His feet I bow;
Worldly pleasures all forsaken, Take me, Jesus, take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me fee the Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee;
Fill me with Thy love and power, Let Thy blessing fall on me.
Chorus
I surrender all, I surrender all;
All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
I often wonder why we sing this great song. As my pastor once said, "Nobody totally surrenders to God." However, we need to realize that totally surrendering to God is an option we have. I'm not saying it will be easy, because it won't. It means that we would have to totally change our mine on everything, and allow God full control. However, we need to see the facts. If we really allow God to direct our paths, then we will see it becomes easier to follow HIM daily. Are you trying to surrender all to HIM?
TO FOLLOW JESUS WE MUST NOT BE LIKE THE REST OF THE WORLD
Another song comes to mind when I think of this. In part of it, the phrase, "This world is not my home, I'm just passing through," comes to mind. Think of it. John tells us, "Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If ANY man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). I've always been amazed that when Jesus came to the disciples and said, "Follow me," at how they just dropped everything and followed HIM. They wanted to see what this man had to offer and what they got was a lot more.
You see Jesus offers us a lot more too. HE offers us security and inner peace, which comes with salvation. However, the downfall of many Christians is that we give our life over to HIM; HE saves us, and then we want to take our life back, and live for the world too. We need to remember that Jesus said, "Ye cannot serve two masters." You cannot serve the sin of this world, which is the 'lust of the eye, lust of the flesh and the pride of life,' and serve God too. As a person I count as a very good friend, whom I pastored for a short period of time, said, "There is no gray area with God. It is either black or white. There is no in between." She's right. We've come accustom to living how we want too, no matter what the consequences of it. When the Lord deals with us about it, then we want to know, "What did I do wrong?" We don't like accepting blame for what we've done wrong, do we? The challenge for all of us is to truly give our life to Jesus. Can we do it?
TO FOLLOW JESUS WE MUST ALLOW OUR LIGHT TO SHINE
Matthew 5:14 tells records Jesus, who is in the beginning stages of the, "Sermon on the Mount," as saying, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." Then in verse 21, Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Jesus encouraged born again believers in this passage. In the beatitudes Jesus used the world, 'Blessed,' and number of times, which means "Happy." A child of God cannot be happy when HE is not serving and following God. Think about it. There is nobody that is more miserable than a child of God who is not seeking God's way. We want to pretend to think that a lost man is miserable, but fact is, as lost man is not miserable because he is in his comfort zone. He doesn't become really miserable until God starts dealing with him and allows him to see who and what he is without Christ. A saved person, who wants to give into the flesh, and be like this world, becomes miserable when he/she steps out to do so. Yes, for a moment of time it seems okay, but fact is we become miserable, because we find out that this lifestyle is not for us. If you think you are saved and you are doing things the "YOU" deem right, and God isn't convicting you about it, you need to ask HIM, Lord, where am I concerning you? HE will reveal the answer to you. If HE doesn't deal with us when we do wrong, it may very well be because we haven't been saved. However, as a child of God, HE will deal with you; sometimes with patience and guidance and other times more harshly.
A child of God cannot hide his light forever. However, we can deem it to the point that God isn't glorified in our life any longer. The only thing we have control of is our testimony. Its sad to say, but a lot of times our testimony doesn't reveal Christ in our life.
TO FOLLOW CHRIST WE MUST SEEK HIM.
Matthew 6:33 encourages us to "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and HIS righteousness;" The words, "Seek ye the Lord," is found 27 times in the Bible. It is found 26 times in the Old Testament alone. In Deuteronomy 4:29, the Israelites were told to turn from idolatry and seek the LORD. They were told, "But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul." This applies to us also. We've made the things of this world into idols. We love the things of this world so much that these things get in the way of us really following and serving God. It is time for us to wake up. Isaiah wrote, "Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:" (Isaiah 55:6). Seeking God is easy for a while, simply because HE can be found. But, what about when HE can't be found? I'm reminded of a man named Esau. The writer of Hebrews said, "Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears" (Hebrews 12:16 17.)
Seeking God is engrained in man from the very moment of birth. Everyone is searching for God, but they choose to find other things to try to make them happy. It may satisfy them for a short period of time, but it's only temporary. Jesus' offer is for eternity. We are told in Acts 17:27, "That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:" HE is only a prayer away. We must first seek him though. A child of God really needs to consider his/her situation. If we find that we are away from HIM, we are told several times how to seek HIM. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."
There are steps in seeking God when we become wayward as HIS children. Humble ourselves put the pride to the side; Pray talk to God; Seek HIM and HIS will for your life; turn from your wicked ways see the lifestyle you are living is detrimental to you testimony and your spiritual life, and turn from them. This is called true repentance. You change your mind about how you are living and your really seek HIM. If you do these things, then it makes it easier to follow HIM.
May we all seek the correct ways to follow HIM daily. Amen.
