As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 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 9:57-62 ESV)
It is easy to give lip service to someone. It is a lot harder to actually do what we said we would do. For words can be cheap if they are not followed up with action. It is not enough to just say that we want to do something or that something is our desire or that we don’t really want to do what we should not be doing, but we need to follow up those proclamations with actions that indicate that our words are true.
Sometimes we may mean well, i.e. we think that we mean well, and we really did intend to do what we said we would do, but the problem is that we didn’t think it all the way through before we spoke the words. We followed our emotions before we actually planned it out to even see if it was possible. We spoke prematurely and then we had to back down from our commitment because our mouths were engaged before our brains were working.
And then there are those who make commitments with their lips but then they have all sorts of excuses for why they can’t carry those commitments through. There is always some interference or something else which takes precedence or they claim that it takes time, lots and lots of time, and that it still does no matter how much time has passed. For the excuses never end and the commitments never come to fruition. It’s all talk but no action.
So, before we open our mouths and we claim that we will do something, or not do something we should not do, it is good if we stop and consider our words and if our actions really match our words, in practice. It is good if we pray, first of all, to make certain that what we are committing ourselves to is really of God and if this is his will for our lives. And it is good if we examine our own hearts to see if we really mean what we say or if it is just words.
For Jesus said that “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?” “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27-28,33)
For yes, there is a cost to following Jesus Christ with our lives. Yes, his grace to us is a free gift, but his grace instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. And his grace delivers us out of our slavery to sin so that we can now follow our Lord in obedience to his commands in holy living, in his power (Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1-23; Luke 9:23-26).
So, faith in Jesus Christ is not just words spoken, but it is a lifetime commitment to deny self, die daily to sin, and to follow Jesus in obedience to his commands and to going wherever he sends us and to doing and to saying whatever he commands us to do, and then to say to the people. We can’t just give him lip service and then go right back to living in sin doing whatever it is that we want to do in our flesh. It doesn’t work that way.
We can’t have half-hearted commitments that only work when they work in our favor or when they fit in with our lifestyles or with our schedules, etc. Now this is not saying that we are going to live absolutely perfect the rest of our lives, but that faith in Jesus Christ is a lifetime commitment to forsake our lives of living in sin to now follow our Lord in obedience and in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives, in practice.
For if we give lip service only, and if we do not follow through in walking in obedience to our Lord in holy living and in the forsaking of our sins, we are not fit for the kingdom of God. We don’t even know God. We are not in fellowship with Christ. But we are of the devil. For genuine faith in Jesus Christ results in the forsaking of our sins and us following him in obedience in holy living, as our life practice, for this is the will of God for our lives.
But not only that, then we are to go into the world and we are to make disciples of Christ of people of all nations, baptizing them (where possible) and teaching them to obey the Lord’s commandments. We are to be our Lord’s ambassadors in taking the full gospel message to the people of the world, and to the worldly church, too, so that many may have the opportunity to come to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, too.
So, let the Lord Jesus lead you in the way that he would have you to go, and then follow him wherever he leads you in doing what he commands. Leave your lives of sin behind you and now walk in his holiness and righteousness in his power and strength and wisdom. And do the work of the ministry to which he has called all of us to do, and you will be blessed. And you will have salvation from sin and eternal life with God.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
Gentle Shepherd
By Gloria Gaither / William J. Gaither
Gentle Shepherd come and lead us
For we need you to help us find our way
Gentle Shepherd come and feed us
For we need your strength from day to day
There's no other we can turn to
Who can help us face another day
Gentle Shepherd come and lead us
For we need to you to help us find our way
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gJwuh61eHA
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