Luke 9:57-62
What it cost me today to follow Christ is so different than
in many parts of the world, where those who are followers of Christ are paying
a great price, even death. I’ve seen the
sunrise and the sunset on the United States for many years and a new wind is
blowing. It is a wind full of evil,
where the norm at all levels is lying lips and deceitful tongues, where
integrity is uncommon, and few are seeking the best for their neighbors. How we
got to this point is a study of mankind, for the heart of man is evil, left to its
own desires.
So we find the winds are blowing against anyone in the
United States who prays songs of ascent; “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a
deceitful tongue.” (Psalm
120:2) How about Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes
to the hills. From where does my help
come? My help comes from the Lord, who
made heaven and earth.” And
my fellow followers of the King of kings and LORD of Lords, verse 8 states, “The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.” Now that’s a promise worth putting
to memory.
This wind of darkness came when the people of God, the
followers of Christ took their eyes off the LORD and placed them on the
pleasures of this world. But the gospel message
has not changed it is the only thing that has the power to change a man from
the inside out. Jesus is the hope of the
world, and it is time to put on our big boy pants as followers of Christ and
put that truth into action. And it is time
for those of us who claim to be a follower of Christ to examine ourselves as
instructed in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test
yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is
in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
The
apostle Paul gives this counsel in Ephesians 5:15-16, “Look carefully then how you
walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of
the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” The Lord’s
will cannot be made clearer than in these verses in Luke 9:59-62, “To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said
to him, “Leave
the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of
God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you,
Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks
back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62 ESV)
The wind of darkness has moved into the hearts of many who
go by the name Christian, we have looked back and yet Jesus is praying for each
of us this prayer; “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will
believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one,
Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that
the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory
that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I
in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the
world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved
me.”
From
the Back Porch,
Bob
Rice
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