Luke 9:57-62 And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. (58) And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. (59) And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. (60) Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. (61) And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. (62) And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
If you are like me, you have probably been a part of groups in the past with which you have identified in some way, but to which you were not enthusiastically committed. You may have joined, maybe even paid some sort of dues, and attended a handful of meetings, and that was about the entirety of the association. There are many groups, clubs and associations that are perfectly fine with this kind of membership. One such groups that many people treat this way, especially this time of year are athletic gyms. People, at the beginning of the new year, want to get into shape and so they will join a gym, pay the dues and then go ones or twice and never go back. They gym is perfectly content to have such people as “members” as long as you pay those annual dues.
Along this same concept, many religious groups have this exact same mindset. You can come as little as you choose. You can drop a dollar or two in the collection plate when it’s passed, and they are content to keep you on their membership roles. Often times, those kinds of religious groups are glad just to be able to boast large membership numbers to give the appearance that they are significant. But they are not doing anyone any favors.
Christianity isn’t a social club! Jesus sees things differently!
Jesus isn’t satisfied with people CLAIMING to be followers! Jesus isn’t interested in just boosting his “numbers”. Jesus isn’t looking for casual attendees. He does not want or need part-timers nor “one-and-doners”. He has no patients for those that just make excuses.
Jesus is looking for Followers!
So many religious groups paint a false description of Jesus as someone that will just take anyone that will make a casual claim of loyalty and allegiance. But nothing could be farther from the truth! Notice what Jesus says in verse 62.
Luke 9:62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Not fit for the Kingdom! That is Jesus’ words...not mine! Who is not fit for the kingdom? Those that put their hand to the plow and then looks back. He didn’t just say those that put the hand to the plow and then quits, but those that even looks back! The New Testement and Jesus teachings from his own mouth support this concept. Here are just a few.
Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Matthew 10:37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
Matthew 7:13- Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: (14) Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
The world, and even modern day religion may try to convince us that we can do this thing called Christianity like a social club: just giving what ever minor effort that we like or whatever is left over from our other activities. But Jesus sees it otherwise. The question then is: Are you a true follower of Jesus or do you just have your name on a list? Are your a servant or a spectator? Are you truly loyal to him or do you just make the claim? You can fool your preacher or other church leaders, but you cannot fool God!
Reflecting the SON,
Dennis Hogan
Questions, comments or further explanation? Contact me at: dennis.hogan@icloud.com
If you have friends, family, or acquaintances that you feel could benefit from RTS, please forward
their e-mail address to me and I will add them to my mail list.
No comments:
Post a Comment