Stuff happens. Things in life don’t always go as you had planned. There are
disappointments, heartache, and pain. And the truth is, when the going gets
tough, the tough don’t always get going. Sometimes they just drop out. Has this
ever happened to you? If so, you are in very good company; it happened for
many of Jesus’ followers. Many gave in, gave up, or turned back.
Concerning Jesus and His disciples, we are told in John 6:66, “From this time
many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
Following Jesus and sticking with Him through thick and thin is not something
anyone is ever made to do or be. Being a follower of Jesus is a constant,
voluntary endeavor. There is no conscription in the Lord’s Army; it’s voluntary
from beginning to end. If anyone believes in Jesus and walks His path, it is
because it is something they have chosen to constantly embrace. After all, this is
how true love operates – it is never conscripted or coerced. It is always
personally chosen and held onto through better or worse, richer or poorer, and in
sickness or in health.
While it is true that we too can turn back and decide to no longer follow Jesus, to
do so is a really foolish plan. Where else will you go? Who else will you follow?
You will find nothing or no one greater than Jesus, who is love and perfect in
every way. To settle for or to follow anything or anyone else is always to settle for
a very, very far second at best. No one even comes remotely close to Jesus in
any good way!
So often I find myself reflecting and agreeing with these words of Asaph who
wrote, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides
you.” (Psalm 73:25) Will you continue to follow Jesus, even when some things
just don’t make sense, even when all you feel like doing when things get tough is
grumbling and giving up? Don’t do it! Trust Jesus!
Peace,
steve
disappointments, heartache, and pain. And the truth is, when the going gets
tough, the tough don’t always get going. Sometimes they just drop out. Has this
ever happened to you? If so, you are in very good company; it happened for
many of Jesus’ followers. Many gave in, gave up, or turned back.
Concerning Jesus and His disciples, we are told in John 6:66, “From this time
many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
Following Jesus and sticking with Him through thick and thin is not something
anyone is ever made to do or be. Being a follower of Jesus is a constant,
voluntary endeavor. There is no conscription in the Lord’s Army; it’s voluntary
from beginning to end. If anyone believes in Jesus and walks His path, it is
because it is something they have chosen to constantly embrace. After all, this is
how true love operates – it is never conscripted or coerced. It is always
personally chosen and held onto through better or worse, richer or poorer, and in
sickness or in health.
While it is true that we too can turn back and decide to no longer follow Jesus, to
do so is a really foolish plan. Where else will you go? Who else will you follow?
You will find nothing or no one greater than Jesus, who is love and perfect in
every way. To settle for or to follow anything or anyone else is always to settle for
a very, very far second at best. No one even comes remotely close to Jesus in
any good way!
So often I find myself reflecting and agreeing with these words of Asaph who
wrote, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides
you.” (Psalm 73:25) Will you continue to follow Jesus, even when some things
just don’t make sense, even when all you feel like doing when things get tough is
grumbling and giving up? Don’t do it! Trust Jesus!
Peace,
steve