Following Jesus: A Lifetime Deal, Not a Casual Arrangement

^{NLT.Matthew.4.18} One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁹ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” ²⁰ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

^{CSB.Matthew16.24} Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it. ²⁶ For what will it benefit someone if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will anyone give in exchange for his life?

Today, once again, we have a new writer to introduce. Charlotte (Shelly) Creamer writes at A Born Again Believer and currently lives in rural Nova Scotia, Canada, The title which follows links you to read this where we first discovered it earlier today, and from there you can look at other devotionals.

The Best Job You’ll Ever Have

When Jesus was looking for disciples, he didn’t go to their homes or track them down at the local pub or synagogue – he went to their place of work. Why did he do that? And not only did he go to their place of work, he told the disciples point-blank to quit their jobs then and there, and follow him. He made a very public demand, which they then very publicly agreed to and therefore could not backtrack on without seriously losing face.

I think one of the reasons Jesus nabbed his disciples at their place of work was because he was acting in the role of a competing employer. Discipleship in the Kingdom is not a hobby or a leisure activity – it’s a job, and it’s a full-time one. In fact, it’s full-time with perpetual overtime and no down-time. You cannot be a disciple of Jesus and at the same time work another job, even part-time. It’s not possible. Jesus himself had to give up his carpentry work when it was time to start his ministry.

That’s not to say that you can’t do a little something to keep body and soul together, but it can’t be a job with a boss and where you have to show up at a certain time or on certain days and remain at your duties for a certain period of time. Nothing should conflict with your Kingdom duties. NOTHING. Paul, as we know, did tent-making during most of his ministry years, but he did it on the fly. His tent-making didn’t tie him to any one location or any particular time-frame, as he couldn’t have traveled if it had. And he didn’t have any boss over him other than for Jesus and God.

I think another reason why Jesus went to the disciples’ place of work was so they’d understand they were entering into a business deal in agreeing to work for and with Jesus. It was a contract they were signing off on, not just a casual arrangement that could easily be walked away from. Not only that, it was a life-time contract that had implications for all eternity. And Jesus needed to get to the disciples where they wouldn’t be influenced or overruled by their sense of duty to their families. If he’d gone to their home environment, I’m guessing their responses might have been different.

We need to pay attention to the fact that Jesus went on a hiring spree when he chose his disciples, and that he’s still on that hiring spree. It didn’t stop when he went Home to Heaven. His offer to work for the Kingdom is never for a part-time position; it’s always full-time, and he’s a jealous boss: He wants you all to himself.

Needless to say, when Jesus comes to you with the offer (if he hasn’t yet), take it. Don’t tell him you need a few days or a few weeks to think about it – take it right there and right then, even if it means you have to walk away from everything and everyone and never look back. Because first of all, no-one will ever come to you with a better offer than to work for God and Jesus in the Kingdom, and second of all, if you reject Jesus’ offer or put off making a decision about it, there won’t be another opportunity. He won’t ask you again.

And if that happens, you will lose the only thing that matters in this life and the one to come – a Forever Home for your soul.

 

Role Models Who Live With the People They’re Leading

Several years ago we visited a blog called Biblical Diagnosis and today I decided to check back in where I discovered this excellent article. Click the title to read at source and look around the rest of the site.

Starving for Role Models

Role models.

Oh that we could use some role models. Whether we attribute it to modern-day living, or to a more sinister cause such as the fact that the Spirit of the Anti-Christ is already at work, it is hard to argue that today, we hardly know people well-enough for them to serve as role models for us, or for us to serve as such for them.

Yet, it is by this Role Model template that the Holy Spirit of God moved in spectacular fashion in the early church, converting people by the masses and keeping them on the walk of faith. Consider the following text, in a letter that Paul, Silvanus and Timothy wrote to the Church members of Thessalonica.

1 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 – For you yourselves know, brothers, that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, 4 but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. 5 For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. 6 Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. 7 But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. 8 So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us. For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God. 10 You are witnesses, and God also, how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you believers. 11 For you know how, like a father with his children, 12 we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.

They reminded the church members of the lifestyle they themselves had when there were among them. Earlier in 1 Thessalonians 1:6, we learn that those members once converted, became followers of Paul, Silvanus and Timothy. Here, we read the details of how those three gentlemen preached the word to them. Their preaching were not just words, but a combination of words and a lifestyle that aligned with those words.

How effective do you suppose is this form of preaching, where those you preach not only hear you, but can also see you in action, and acquaint themselves with the practical aspects of your preaching?

Paul says,

For you yourselves know that…

… we never came with words of flattery

… we did not seek glory from people, whether from you or from others

… we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children

… we were ready to share with you our own selves

… we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you WHILE we proclaimed to you the gospel

… You are witnesses how holy and righteous and blameless was our conduct toward you

… you know how, like a father with his children, we exhorted each one of you and encouraged you and charged you to walk in a manner worthy of God

The Thessalonians knew that all those things were true because they witnessed it. Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy lived right among them, providing the Thessalonians with the most effective demonstration and blueprint for what the Christians life looks like. This is in fact, effective preaching.

To the Corinthians, Paul says something similar

1 Corinthians 2:2,3 – …I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, 4 and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power

He says…“I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling”. So it must be that the Corinthians also so how Paul handled himself and exercised his faith in those moments, thereby providing them with powerful practical lessons that they could rely on. The ultimate purpose being…

1 Corinthians 2:4 – …so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

We have to do a better job as being present for each other, that all may see how practically we walk in the Spirit. Much preaching without concrete evidence will only go so far, for the Spirit of God is a Spirit of Actions!

Do you consider yourself a faithful Christian – not a perfect one of course – then to whom do you evidently display yourself, so they may see you, know you, and learn from you?

Are you a great preacher? Do the people you preach – at least those who live in your city – know you just as much for your preaching as for your lifestyle? Or are the people left to suppose what that lifestyle may be?

We are indeed starving for role models. But it need not stay this way.

After all, wasn’t this the commandment of Christ…

Matthew 5:16 – Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Paul, Sylvanus and Timothy showed us how exactly we ought to do it. Let us follow them.