Thursday, July 16, 2009

Count the cost before saying Yes!

Jesus said [Matthew 16] "If anyone wants to come after me , he must deny himself , take up the cross and follow me" and in another place he said [Luke 14:25-35] "If anyone wants to be my disciple he must first, hate his life, take up the cross and follow him" .
The last commandment that Jesus gave to his disciples before ascending up to his Father in heaven, also known popularly among evangelists as "Great commission" was that of "go ye therefore , and teach all nations" [Matthew 28:19], "teach all nations" literally means to "make disciples". Jesus did not send for people to preach and make Christians or followers of a denomination, but to make disciples.
The question I want to ask, before even going into the study of "discipleship" is :
Do you want to be a disciple of Jesus?
Let me be very clear before you dive right in with a "Yes", what even Jesus forewarned with, anyone wanting to be his disciple. The journey is is Hard , is Painful, is Long. But the best thing is, amidst all this he gives us his "Grace" [2 Corinthians 12:7-9] among other things which is sufficient for us to carry on. And then above all as the Bible always potray's this world is only a wilderness we go through until we reach the promised land. Where those who have walked this journey faithfully with God, will be. Where every tear will be wiped away, and joy shall abound for ever as we abide in His presence. Is not that a great assurance, the Lord Jesus himself gave us , "In my Father's house are many mansions, I go and prepare a place for you", assurance of a heavenly inheritence to all those who believe on Him and walk after Him while yet in this world.

Another thing here is, you cannot say "yes" if it were not given to you of the Father above [John 6:44]. There were more than the "Famous twelve" disciples that followed Jesus, but they all left him, when the teaching sounded to them hard.
The follow up question , if you said "yes" to the one above is:
Have you counted the cost of being a disciple of Jesus?

I am in Germany for a while now , and will be for a short while still. And amidst understanding the culture, I could see where it is on this earth, the need to hear the gospel is the same:great ! And the need to preach the gospel is the same :Urgent! But how can we even start to carry out this great comission that the Lord gave to His disciples, when we don't feel the urgency and heart of Jesus. Jesus said "As the Father sent me so I send you" , there for the mission of the church and for that reason of individual disciple, has to be inspired by the life of Jesus. The life of Jesus was one which embarced people of all walks of life, but influenced and touched by his love. It was a life of continual and close relationship with His Father. It was a life of sacrifice for others to make the way to God, by himself becoming the way.
I see the great need to share the true gospel, that would bring the true repentence. This great need is not only in the remote areas of Africa or India or any other corner of the world, where no one has ever heard about Jesus, but sadly this great need is right in the midst of where we live, in our villages, towns or cities. At our places of work, study or play. Being a disciple is a life that we ought to live rather than just speak. As some one said "because most of the time the only gospel people will ever read is "You" " !

3 comments:

  1. The followers left him when he said, "Truly, you must east my flesh and drink my blood."

    You are a scientist, so I would encourage you......this is an that warrants careful analysis.

    Why did they leave? Because they took him literally and were scandalized by what he was saying. Jesus allowed them to go away...knowing what these men were thinking....if they had just not understood what he was saying, he would have clarified it for them but they did catch his meaning.

    Christians generally believe Jesus certainly did turn water into wine at Cana...amazing, one substance into a completely different substance. Why not then can he not at every Catholic and Orthodox Mass can he not turn bread and wine into his body and blood as he spoke about repeatedly in the Gospels?

    Albert Einstein was intrigued by this Catholic Doctrine of Trans-substantiation and once asked a priest for all the books he could find for him on the subject.

    Just a little food for thought.

    In reality "denomentations" as you mention in your blog are an aberration...they should not be...because they do not possess a perfect unity. But Jesus did say that he would build "a Church".

    Peace and Grace of Jesus the Messiah be with you, Jonathan.

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  2. Patty - Yes I am learning about the cost every day ! And willing to follow Him by His grace, what joy it is!

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