Trading?

Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for? (Mark 8:32-37)

Are you a follower of Christ? If so, your life is marked by some very unique things, such as embracing suffering, not being so intent on yourself that you cannot see the needs of others and being willing to allow Christ to take the lead in your life. How many times do we ask Jesus to take the lead in our lives, intending to live a holy, upright, and circumspect life, only to take the lead right back from him whenever the urge hits us? If you are anything like me, it has been like a game of musical chairs!

Followers LET Jesus lead - that means we do more than invite him to lead - we actually put our own self-reliance to rest and allow him to actually lead. It is easy to slip back into that 'self-reliant' phase in our daily walk - especially when things are going well for us. As soon as something begins to rattle our cage a bit, we become acutely aware of what we lack in dealing with the issues at hand. That's when we ask Jesus to take the lead once again. Jesus is either on the throne, or he is not, but he isn't going to lead if we keep relying upon our own abilities all the time.

Embracing suffering seems to be an odd thing to say right after Jesus tells us to let him take the lead - to be in the driver's seat of our lives. If you think about it, he is actually telling us that our self-reliant way of living will do all it can to avoid suffering and pain. To give up the control might just seem a little like we are entering into a place that could have some suffering and unknown pain. Embrace it - follow him. That momentary 'suffering' or 'pain' we endure by not getting our own way all the time, doing things under our own strength or power, isn't all that hard to bear up under when he is leading the way.

All good things in life come with a little, if not a lot, of sacrifice. Allowing Christ to lead will actually mean we sacrifice our desire to be in control. It might be scary to not have all the 'say' over our actions but having all the 'say' over my actions hasn't always resulted in the best outcome! How about you? Have you a desire to allow Christ to lead? If so, it will require less reliance upon self, a 'dethroning' of some desires, and more than just a bit of willingness to do what may be a little frightening to us at times. Just sayin!

Rich, but poor?

Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. Life is not measured by how much one owns.” ...who will get those things you have prepared for yourself?’ “This is how it will be for those who store up things for themselves and are not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:15, 20-21)

Do we own it, or does it own us? It is sometimes hard to decide which one actually is the truth, but a sure way to find out is how we react when it is taken from us. Remember Job? He had riches galore, a large family, lots and lots of herds of animals, crops in abundance - in essence, he had it all. He was a good man, known in the community to be faithful to his family, considerate of others, a good friend. Then one day, it was taken from him. He lost the crops, herds began to die, family members were lost, and he found himself sitting on a hill of dung, scraping boils on his body with a broken shard of pottery. If you or I were to face similar circumstances today, how might we react?

It took some 'talking it out with God' to get all the things off his chest he really didn't understand. He asked repeatedly why all these events were transpiring - something I know God didn't mind. He might have even began to question his faith a bit - another thing I don't think God minds us talking with him about. There are times when we just don't understand our 'losses' - times when we might call into question our own beliefs and where it is we have put our trust. If our trust has been placed in the 'things' and not in God himself, our faith will falter a lot. If we find ourselves bemoaning our 'losses', but keeping God at the center of our prayers, it is likely we have placed our faith in the Creator and not the creation.

God's plan is for us to be rich toward him - not ourselves. We can amass all manner of 'goods' and 'things' that really don't fill the empty space in our spirit but might just fill more than one empty space in our homes, garages, workshops, or storage rooms. We would be happy with our riches for a while, but the reality of the 'hole' in our spirits would still be there. We need to remember that Christ desires to fill us to overflowing with all manner of good blessings, but they begin on the inside and are not stored in garages! We might be 'rich' to some, but we are 'poor' where it really counts. Just sayin!