John 1:43
“The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.'”
Ponder the personality and power of Jesus: He finds Philip, says to him, “Follow me,” and Philip does. He follows him to his death on the cross, and beyond.
Q: Jesus is just as alive today as he was in Philip’s day. He calls to each one of us and says, “Follow me.” What do we give up in order to follow Jesus?
We give going down dead end roads that lead to dissatisfaction and disappointment.
We are called to do one thing. Follow Jesus! Everything of, in and about this physical world must be given up as we focus upon living in humble obedience to Jesus Christ who is not of this world.
We can only be used by God to properly care for our families, loved ones, all those within our sphere of influence by making conforming to the image of Christ our number one priority.
I’m working on this, have a long ways to go, but I live receiving far more than I give up as I continue down this path of separation from all influence of this world and growth in my eternal King,
I gave Him all there was about me,..sin. He took all of it onto Himself. He has given me all that I need and more to live in this physical world and to be honest I haven’t had to give up any of it,..He allows me to be a steward of what He allows me to possess. If it weren’t for God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit at work in my life I would still be out on the street living in a camp trailer with my wife and kids. He has given me skills and talents for the opportunities He provides for me to provide for the family He has given me. When God gives good gifts who am I to say no to what He provides,..besides it’s kinda hard to give up what He has given,..
Great comments! We give up dead end roads, we give up paths that go nowhere, we give up our sin at the cross where He gave up His life. In a way, it boils down to giving up our selves and finding that there is much more to life than being a slave to the self.
Luke 14:26-27 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”
Those are very serious words. I don’t believe Jesus was advocating to hate your family, but He is saying that you have to be prepared to give up everything. For some it may be their earthy possessions, for others their earthly connections, or for others it may be their physical life. I personally believe that whatever God asks us to give up for Him is most likely something that is a barrier between your relationship with Him.
Jeremiah 2:5 This is what the Lord says: “What fault did your ancestors find in me, that they strayed so far from me? They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.”
Following Jesus means letting go of those idols that distract us from clearly focusing our attention on Him.
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Following Jesus also means letting go of earthy knowledge, what you “feel” is right, and weighing the advice of your loved ones against what God has written in scripture.
Chris,
You have touched on an important mystery of faith: How are we to understand what Jesus says? He says:
“Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a parable.” (Matthew 13:34)
You have pointed us to the meaning underlying Jesus’ words as opposed to the meaning of the words themselves. Thank you! This is crucial to understanding our Lord.
Jesus wants us to understand things that we cannot know first hand until we pass into the next life. He says:
“ I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? ” (John 3: 12)
How indeed? Only by the grace of God!