Close Enough

‘Then He said to the crowd, if any of you want to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me’ Luke 9:23

‘Salvation costs you nothing but discipleship will cost you everything’ Mark Driscoll. Walking in the reality of our faith involves making Jesus Lord of all. Jesus is either Lord of all or He is not Lord at all. Salvation costs you nothing but to follow Jesus will cost you everything. When you are obedient it affects generations unborn. God cannot be your assistant driver.  In Churches today, there are a lot of people who have confessed Jesus Christ but have refused to follow Him. Their intention is to get close enough to God to save them from hell. Get close enough to God to assure them of heaven but not close enough to alter their lifestyle. In other words, God is to stay in the box of heaven ward connection only. People just want to use God. This will not work. The Bible calls it a form of godliness, and yet they deny the power thereof. ‘Then He said to the crowd, if any of you want to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me’ Luke 9:23. The requirements of following Jesus are to first turn from selfish ways. It is selfish to ask God to save you from hell and then refuse to give Him complete Lordship in your life. A lot of people want to follow Jesus to heaven but they do not want to carry a cross with them. It’s the ‘God be my Saviour but don’t alter my lifestyle’ mentality. They want to live according to their own dictates. To just show up on Sunday, give an offering, pay tithe but be left out of every other thing. Really? For God to take you to the height that He really has destined for you, you have to let go of yourself. The reason why a lot of marriages are in trouble today is because of selfishness. Two extremely selfish people; even the spiritual ones are spiritually selfish. Everyone is thinking about ‘me – what about me’. Thinking about just themselves; this never works. Just try to be selfless and see what God will do with your marriage. Just forget about yourself. The only invitation that Jesus offers is an invitation to die to self.

Prayer: Lord, I ask for the grace to let go and let God in every area of my life. So that Your will and purpose will be accomplished in my life and in my home, in Jesus Name.