PRaP
5/6/08
“The
Cost of Following Jesus”
I
was reading Luke 9 this morning and came across these verses 57-62 and am
intrigued by them. Let’s read
them:
57As
they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you
wherever you go."
58Jesus
replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head."
59He
said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let
me go and bury my father."
60Jesus
said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but
you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
61
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and
say good-by to my family."
62Jesus
replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and
looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
So
following Jesus is likely to cost me my home in which I feel comfort and safety
and I am to put Him first over the burial of my own father and I can’t look
back once I make the decision to follow Jesus. That’s
harsh dude! Jesus is telling us that we are going to go through hard
times once we become followers of Him. Wait
the preachers all preach of this rosy existence once we become saved, what’s
up with that? All this peace, joy,
and love we have when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, now why would
Jesus tell us in His Word that it is going to be difficult? The Bible says that followers of Jesus will be persecuted and
hated because of Him but He also tells us to remember that they hated Him first.
There is joy in pain when you see the big picture.
When you know that Jesus is with you and that whatever pain you are
enduring because of Him, He endured more for you than you will ever endure for
Him. Why have Jesus as Lord and Savior? Because this life is only a blink of an eye and your eternity
is there waiting for you. Think
outside of the box and look ahead say 500,000 years and decide where you want to
be. The only way that you can see
that far into the distance is to have a relationship with Christ. Pick up your cross and follow.
Key
Verse:
Luke
9:41
"O unbelieving and perverse generation," Jesus replied, "how long
shall I stay with you and put up with you? Bring your son here."
Luke
9:40-42 (in
Context) Luke
9 (Whole
Chapter)
Week
19
for those of you doing the Bible in 52 weeks program, http://www.c2cministry.org/Bible
Send
your questions to us if you need help. There is a link on our web site called “Ask The Pastor”.
We will answer all questions live on our weekly Ask The Pastor program on
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only dumb question is the one not asked. All names are kept confidential unless
you say it is ok.
PEACE
and AGAPE LOVE, Pastor, Dad, DJ Dude
From
The Desk Of:
Pastor
Stephen Eldridge
c2C
http://www.c2cministry.org
Got
Jesus?
Matthew
7:7-8
"Ask
and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be
opened to you. For everyone who
asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be
opened."
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