Will You Follow?

Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.

And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets.

And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. (Mark 1:16-20 KJV)

They immediately followed him! The disciples did not tell Jesus that he'd have to wait for them to follow him till after they retired from fishing. They didn't make any excuses not to follow him. They dropped everything and followed him. It was not as if James and John left their father without help. He had hired laborers to assist him in continuing on his business. They were not irreplaceable as fishermen.

I have heard a lot of excuses from those who profess to be Christians for not actually following him. There always seems to be an excuse to do the Lord's will at a later date. The world seems to take precedence an awful lot in a lot of peoples' lives. I have actually heard from more than a few that they will able to serve the Lord after they retire. In the meantime, they were busy one or two days a week with leisure activities that they were committed to. No time to worship or serve the Lord? I am not buying it. Whom then shall you serve?

The commandments that were given to us through Moses include: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:3) We must ask ourselves what in our lives is keeping us from more fully following Jesus? That is the god that we put before the One Lord our God. 

Near the end of his life Joshua asked the people to reaffirm their faith and their loyalty to the God who had saved His people over and over again. He asked them to choose which god they would serve.

"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods.." (Josh 24:14-16)

The Lord has saved you and has called you to worship and serve him above all other gods; to follow wherever he will lead you. Whom or what will you serve?

God's Peace - Pr. J.

 

Whom Are You Looking For?

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”  John 20:15 NRSV
Indeed, whom are you looking for? He is there with you, right now. Can you not see him? Then, maybe, it's really not Jesus that you are looking for. Maybe it's someone or something else that you think might satisfy you. Maybe you're looking in all the wrong places. The tomb is empty. Jesus is not among the dead; but, among the living. If you're looking for Jesus, look no further than around you. Jesus is Risen! He lives with you. He is with you now and always.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Choose Ye This Day

But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

Anyone who has listened to me preach on a regular basis has heard this verse from Joshua from my lips on more than one occasion. The false gods of alcohol, money, sex, expensive homes, expensive cars, expensive toys, leisure, celebrities, self, and the list goes on... have taken a predominant place in the American household and that includes a enormous number of Christian households. Ultimately, we worship ourselves as we put our worldly desires before the Kingdom of God. We worship false gods and then wonder why our lives are a mess.

I woke up this morning thinking about how those who worshipped false gods sacrificed their children in hopes of being blessed themselves. In Leviticus (20:2-3) the Lord instructs Moses to: “Say to the Israelites: ‘Any Israelite or any foreigner residing in Israel who sacrifices any of his children to Molek is to be put to death. The members of the community are to stone him."

Those who sacrificed their children to Molek did so that they, themselves, would benefit. They put their own desires before their children's lives. As much as what I am going to say may upset you, I am going to say it anyway. Abortion (all the way through the third trimester) is often committed for the same reasons as these pagan sacrifices were. It is all too often done in order that the mother and in some cases both parents may live a more prosperous life without the burden of raising a child. In this country a mother has been given rights. But, is it right to sacrifice a child on the altar of a false god, in the hope that your life will be more blessed without the child?

The only one who can truly bless anyone is the Lord our God who was willing to sacrifice His own Son, that our children and we, ourselves, will not die; but, have eternal life. The sacrifice of our own children will get us nowhere. The only sacrifice that benefits us is the sacrifice of the perfect lamb of God who gave himself for us.

Choose ye this day...

God's Peace - Pr. J