He Goes Before Me

Luke 14:26-27 - "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple."

Our youth pastor, Dan Wenig, preached on Sunday. For being hired to be head of music ministry a few years ago, he has come a long way in a short time! His message was Come and Die, a message he also preached to his teens. A powerful message...and not just for teens! He said we all know about God's love, His grace, goodness, mercy, but what about what Luke 14 has to say about dropping everything NOW and following? Not on your terms but His. Not when you are ready but when He asks. Not when you feel you're comfortable but at any time. Not because of what the culture dictates but what God's Word says. And will it be all or nothing? Not all things that are easy to do; not all things people are willing to do. 

This fits with something I wrote a long while back about being on the fence. You either are for Jesus or against Him...there's no middle road. And it goes along with Jesus' telling us that following Him is the narrow way...which few travel. This sermon of Pastor Dan's was convicting. I spent the day thinking about it...with still many questions. How much am I doing? Is it enough? Am I in God's will or my own? And worse yet, do we ever really know...?

A song, At the Cross, was sung by our worship team at the end of the sermon and while at the altar I heard one verse out of all the others:

       

       You go before me

       You shield my way

       Your hand upholds me

       I know You love me

It was like He wanted me to be assured of this. Yes, He does. And we cannot lose sight of this! When we are determined to be His followers and He shows us where and when He wants us to move, He has already gone before us and been at work before us, in so many ways. This is what trusting in Him is all about. He's beside us, before us, behind us and IN us and never leaves our side when we are in His will. He will shield us. We do not need to be perfect; we just need to do. We will all make mistakes in our witness of Him. We overdo, underdo, misspeak, offend by accident, offend on purpose, speak too quickly or not quickly enough. But His hand will still uphold us.

I can honestly say I am still working on this! But in this past week I have seen a couple things transpire where when it was done I stood amazed at what had happened! Because it was so easy, it had to be God. It had to be His Holy Spirit at work, forming the words, causing the conviction that made me think: I HAVE to tell this person what I believe, whether it's taken as something some wacko would say, or hopefully will cause the person to think on it...it has to be said. The truth must be heard. But I am sadly in need of more ability to have ears and eyes being attuned to those things around me. Be more aware of prompting and acting on them...as Pastor Dan said, NOW. Not thinking hours later, "I shoulda said...."

Like I said, his message caused me to think and converse with the Lord, even plead, that I would be counted as one who will carry my cross daily. Who will not allow the comforts of this life to interfere with what God has planned. Again, the question, how do I know I am doing this?

I know it has to do with reacting to the Spirit. Listening to Him speak, feeling His nudge. Are there things I need to let go of (I'm sure there are) in order for more of this to happen? What are they? Is there anything I can do or do I let God do it? Any answers to these questions would be greatly appreciated!

Pastor Dan said for some it is just a lack of commitment. In this earthly life we've had it too good. We're accustomed to creature comforts. There's a scripture that says Jesus had no place to call home. He wandered and relied on others' to board Him. He was always on the move. This is what we are to do...not that we sell our house and wander, although that's pretty much what people who are dedicated to missions work do. We are to give up the creature comforts of our daily lives and be about His business. Oh, it's always easy to "preach to the choir" but what about those who don't even attend church?!

We are told repeatedly we cannot do anything on our own to become saved...and followers of Christ. It's not about how good we are or the wonderful deeds we do. First come into relationship with the Lord, then the works we do will be recognized because they come from our hearts and done with the right motive...to glorify God. In Luke 13:24 Jesus told us, however, about one thing we can strive for: Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. There you have it. The narrow gate. The narrow path. The narrow way. Strive to enter that way.

Jesus is the narrow Way. And because of mindsets in this world He is not received as He should be. He is not followed as He should be. He is not taken as seriously as He should be. Is it too uncomfortable? Is it what today's culture believes in? Do we not think this is our time, but later, when we are ready? Will it be our terms or His? Will it be all or nothing? Lots to think about. And believe me, I'm still thinking.

I think we can get hung up with believing we are doing His will when we might not be. We can think we are committed Christians when we are not. We can rationalize...oh, how we can rationalize. 

Following Christ takes commitment. We must hate our father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and our own life also... We must forsake all. We must carry our cross daily. We must die to ourselves daily and as Pastor Dan posited: Sounds pretty final, huh? Jesus did. He left His family, His home. He forsook it all. Then He carried His own cross and died...for those of us who would dare make a commitment to Him. He was our example. How many are willing to do this for the One who did it all for us? 

It doesn't mean we all must leave our families, unless He makes it clear we must. But we must be willing to not stand with the beliefs of those who do not take the Lord seriously. We must be willing to put our foot down and say we cannot do that because it would not be in the best interest for me because the Bible clearly says no to that. That includes standing against abortion, homosexuality, sex before marriage, horoscopes and mediums, even yoga! It doesn't mean hating anyone who believes these, and other things; just not standing with them.

We are to love the Lord our God, Jesus, with all our hearts and all our souls (Luke 10:27). That means we have no other gods before Him (First Commandment). That's the gist of it all. Nothing should mean more than our love for Him. If we seek Him first, all other things will be given to us as well (Luke 12:31). A tall order to be sure. But there are great rewards if we follow these principles. There is a lost and dying world right before us. What commitment do we have to expound on the truth? Remember, He goes before us.

Matthew 10:37 - "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."