"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
The narrow gate's way is hard but it leads to life. The wide gate's way is easy but in the end, it will lead you to destruction. The easy path is the path where "Okay, pray this prayer so that you might be saved" is the gate. The hard path is the path where " Come, follow Me" is the gate.Follow Him.
Have you ever thought of what it truly means to be a Christian? Do you know that there are two types of Christians? One is the one who just prayed a prayer and went on with his life as if he didn't encounter something or Someone supernatural. This person may be attending church but he may just be professor. The other is the one who placed his faith on Jesus, decided to take up his cross and follow Jesus.You see, we have to be reminded that Jesus is not just a "means" or a transpo to heaven, Jesus is Someone who chose to mediate for us. He became a bridge to the gap between our broken relationship with God.
"Jesus is not simply an invitation to pray a prayer; it's a summon to lose our lives." --Follow Me by David Platt (p.4)
When we accept Him as our Savior, we also must accept Him as our Lord. The Gospel is not about going to a place, it's about entering a relationship with our Father and King. That means you're a princess and a daughter of the King of kings! But because our Father is our King and we are part of His kingdom, we ought to serve Him. And serving Him would mean that we FOLLOW HIM.
If we have really decided to follow Jesus then:
"--every single Christian-- eagerly, willingly, and gladly lose our lives to know and proclaim Christ, for this is simply what it means to follow Him." (p.5)
(Matthew 7:21)
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
What then or how then can we know the will of the Father?
(Romans 12:1-2)
"I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
So how can we know the will of God? By letting ourselves be transformed into Christ-likeness. How will we be transformed into Christ-likeness if we don't seek Him? If we don't follow Him closely?
Your response to the Gospel is not a one-time decision, it's a life-time decision.
What Following Him Really Means.
(Matthew 16:24-25)
"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it'."
What does it mean for us to take up our cross? It means that we take up the call to die to ourselves and to live in Christ. It means that we will follow Him whatever the cost is.
"The road that leads to heaven is risky, lonely, and costly in this world, and few are willing to pay the price. Following Jesus involves losing your life--and finding new life in Him." (p.11)
If you're an apple tree, you will bear apples and not oranges. In the same way, if you're a Christian, if you follow Him, if His seed is really planted in you, then what fruit will you bear? What fruit must you bear?
"If our lives do not reflect the fruit of following Jesus, then we are foolish to think that we are actually followers of Jesus in the first place...if someone gets hit by a Mack truck going seventy miles per hour, that person is going to look very different than he did before!" (p.16)
So how do you think we ought to look after being hit by the weight of the Gospel?
"...once people truly come face-to-face with Jesus, the God of the universe in the flesh, and Jesus reaches down into the depth of their hearts, saves their souls from the clutches of sin, and transforms lives to follow Him, they are going to look different. Very different." (p.18)
Have you encountered Jesus and took up His call to take up your cross and follow Him?
[This post is part of another blog-book series based on David Platt's "Follow Me"]
No comments:
Post a Comment