I Will Follow - Lead Me to the Cross

I was recently listening to a podcast entitled "The Power of the Resurrection." In it Rabbi Jason Sobel (a messianic rabbi based in California) highlights the fact that the resurrection and what it means for us is all about being changed, from death to life.  But that change came at a great price, it cost the very life of the Son of God.  Now of course we all want to see that kind of resurrection power in our lives and in the world around us.  The problem Rabbi Jason identifies is that "we all want change, but we're not willing to pay the cost for change."  Now we might be open to change that isn't too costly, something that only costs the spare change of our lives, but not the bigger kind of change that will cost us our time, plans, comfort, money, reputation...  And yet when we looked at Luke 9 in Part 1, we saw that one can't be a disciple unless they are willing to surrender their entire lives to the Lord on a daily basis.  And thus, as Rabbi Jason observes,  Jesus has "lots of fans, but few true followers."  


What's the difference between a fan and a follower?  Consider this excerpt from J.C. Ryle's "The Cost."

"Any of you who does not give up everything he has, cannot be My disciple." Luke 14:33 

What does it cost to be a Christian?

I grant freely that it costs little to be a mere outward Christian. A man has only got to attend a place of worship twice on Sunday, and to be tolerably moral during the week--and he has gone as far as thousands around him ever go in religion. All this is cheap and easy work--it entails no self-denial or self-sacrifice. If this is saving Christianity and will take us to Heaven when we die--we must alter the description of the way of life, and write, "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to Heaven!"

But it does cost something to be a real Christian, according to the standard of the Bible. There are . . .
  enemies to be overcome,
  battles to be fought,
  sacrifices to be made,
  an Egypt to be forsaken,
  a wilderness to be passed through,
  a cross to be carried,
  a race to be run.
Conversion is not putting a man in a soft armchair, and taking him pleasantly to Heaven. It is the beginning of a mighty conflict, in which it costs much to win the victory. Hence arises the unspeakable importance of "counting the cost."

True Christianity will cost a man . . .
  his self-righteousness,
  his sins,
  his love of ease, and
  the favor of the world.

A religion which costs nothing--is worth nothing! 

A cheap, easy Christianity, without a cross--will prove in the end a useless Christianity, without a crown.

This week's song is "Lead Me to the Cross," written by Brooke Fraser.  It was first released on the Hillsong United album All of the Above.  One of my favorite lines in this song says, "Rid me of myself, I belong to you."  Oh Lord, may we truly live each day as if our lives were not our own.

I Will Follow - "The Lord went ahead of them..."

I Will Follow

by Chris Tomlin, Jason Ingram 

and Reuben Morgan

"By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people." 

-Exodus 13:20-22

It must have been amazing to be the people of Israel during the Exodus, to be led by God in such visible and powerful ways.  Surely I'm not alone in thinking that it would be nice if God would lead us in such a perceptible way today.  But then again, Jesus did say "blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (John 20:29).  And let's not forget that despite all the wonders performed, many of those pillar-led people still doubted God's provision (Numbers 11), made idols (Exodus 32), and refused to go where He had commanded them to go (Deut. 1:26-46).  The truth is that God can lead us just as intimately and unmistakably as He led the Hebrews thousands of years ago.  Just look at passages like Mark 13:11, Acts 10, and Acts 16:6-10.  As exciting and life-changing as this should be for all who believe, I can't help but notice that many of us don't seem to be moving when God moves.

You're the one I seek,

knowing I will find,

All I need in you alone. 

Through prayer, scripture, the counsel of godly people, or perhaps even a supernatural sign the Holy Spirit can reveal the will of the Father to us.  But if we don't actively seek God, how can we expect to hear His voice or sense where He's leading?  One of the biggest obstacles to perceiving God's leading is the lack of priority we put on spending time seeking the Father either in private or with other believers.  Getting to that place where we can hear from God clearly and begin to step out in faith takes intention, consistency and patience on our part.  He can transmit to us all day long, but if our spiritual antennas aren't up, we'll never get the message.  Of course, sometimes I wonder if the reason we don't put a lot of effort into seeking the Lord is because we're afraid of what He might say.  

  All your ways are good,

all your ways are sure,

I will trust in you alone,

But even if we do end up getting the message that God wants us to hear, we've got just as much potential as Israel did to resist Him.  If we don't totally believe that God's intent for us is good and that His way is the only way in the grand scheme of things, then our fears, doubts and idols will hold us back at some point along the journey.  We'll begin to doubt what God actually said, just like Adam and Eve did.  Or we'll be afraid because of the risk involved or because it means changing our plans (that was Jonah's problem).  At the end of the day, it's about trust.  Do we trust that He'll provide if we start giving more of our time and resources away for kingdom purposes.  Do we trust that He'll give us the words to speak if we're brave enough to talk to our co-worker about Jesus?


Lord we pray that you would help us to prioritize seeking you so that we might actually hear from you, and Father we ask that you would increase our faith so that when we do hear from you, our lives will actually begin to look like the picture this song paints, going where you go, staying when you stay, loving whom you love, serving however you call us to serve, so that in dying to ourselves we might truly live in You. Amen.