I was listening to the Bible this morning. I downloaded an audio version and was listening to Romans. While I did that I was thinking, and my thoughts do wonder a bit off the present topic and to others that seem to jump up. But what I was thinking was this…All through the New Testament Jesus keeps pointing out that we have to be 100% a follower. No partial commitment.
Which is why we have all these letters from Peter and Paul and whomever… because that 100% commitment is just not something we as humans do very easily. If yu are like me, you pray regularly, acknowledge Jesus is the Lord and Savior of the world, try to be good, all the things that make you in your mind, a Good Christian and Follower of Christ.
But if I showed up and Jesus said to me, Go sell all your belongings, give them tot he poor and come back and follow me… I think I would say..Are your sure? Let’s think about this. Maybe I heard you wrong. My first reaction would probably not be to go out and sell my belongings.
Jesus wants us to not be that guy. The one who stalls. He wants 100%. You hear God say sell, the for sale sign is up a minute later and the first offer takes it. Those people are what we call Saints. We love the Mother Theresa’s of the world. They heard a call and dove right in. No questions. We love to look at them and say, if only I was called like that…. maybe you were.
I can tell you that I look back in my own life and can see plenty of times when God wanted me to do something, and made the plan very clear, and I found a reason to doubt that it was really Gods plan. My weakness shines like a beacon. I can be very honest about that. And I want to change. I want to be that guy who just moves with the Spirit. But I throw up the doubt defense. How do I actually know that this is what God wants me to do? The stall of discernment. When its says God works all things to the Good for those who love Him.. which means if you actually do hear Him wrong and sell, but you weren’t supposed to, He will reward your zeal. Again, me writing that is not what I do all the time.
I do love the Christian money managers. Find any place in the Bible where it says put some money aside for retirement. Their response…the Bible says we are to be good stewards. Yeah, than why do we honor Saints who gave all their assets away and lived in caves, in deserts, got killed and tortured and maimed for spreading the Gospel. We don’t honor anyone who invested wisely in mutual funds and left a modest inheritance for their children.
Now I write this to convict myself. I write this so I can read my words and laugh at how weak I really am. How less than a mustard seed of faith I must have. I am hoping that now that I have put my weakness down I will find the strength to fall down before the cross of Jesus, to say with confidence I want the Spirit to take over, to accept and not hide behind discernment, to just do, to jump in, to sell. To follow Jesus. I know I could rush into battle, I could leap into a fire, I could jump off a cliff. Jesus doesn’t need me to do any of that. He wants me to say… Jesus loves you…to everyone I meet. And to live like I am the living witness of that Love.
I will be back with updates. Peace. and Jesus Loves you.
The musings of Peter 