“From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.” (Matthew 4:17-22 NASB1995)
This section of Scripture speaks the message of the gospel
of Christ, of our salvation, for it begins with a call to repent of (to die to)
our sins and then is followed by a call to leave our old lives behind us and to
follow Jesus Christ with our lives, without delay, without hesitation, but
immediately when called of God. So this is not about lip service only. The
disciples of Jesus didn’t respond to his call with, “I will follow you,”
only then to remain where they were, still doing the same things that they had
been doing every day. But they immediately left it all behind them to follow
Jesus with their lives.
Do you see the parallel here? When our Lord calls us to
repent of our sins and to follow him in obedience to his commands, by
God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him, which comes from God, and which is
not of our own doing, we should immediately respond by surrendering our lives
to him to do his will. We should, at that moment, choose to now die to sin and
to obey God, and to do what pleases the Lord in surrender to his will, and to
forfeit our old lives of living in sin and for self, which are controlled by
the flesh, and not by God. For this is the divine will and purpose of God for
our lives.
Yet we live in a day and age when this is not being taught much
at all anymore. The vast majority appear to be teaching, instead, that we can
just profess Jesus as Lord (Owner-Master) of our lives, convinced that all our
sins are now forgiven, and that heaven is our eternal destiny, but without us
immediately leaving our former lives of sin behind us to now follow our Lord in
walks of obedience to his will and purpose for our lives. But if we don’t leave
our lives of sin behind us to follow Jesus where he leads us, then we are not
truly his, by faith in him, because we didn’t follow him with our lives.
So…
By God-gifted faith in Jesus Christ, which is not of our own
doing, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin and raised with Christ to
walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin but as
slaves to righteousness in walks of obedience to God’s commands. We are no
longer to permit sin to reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires.
For if sin is what we obey, it results in death. But if obedience to God is
what we obey, it results in sanctification, and its end is eternal life with
God (see Romans 6:1-23).
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny
self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if
we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity.
But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience
to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with
God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew
7:21-23).
So, repent of your sins, and immediately leave your old
lives of sin behind you, and now follow Jesus Christ with your lives in
obedience to his will.
[Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John
6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 2:6-8; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; 1
Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 5:16-24; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32;
Ephesians 5:3-6; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-13; Hebrews 12:1-2;
1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 1:5-10; 1 John 2:3-6; 1 John 3:4-10]
Seek the Lord
Based off Isaiah 55
Musical Instrumentation by Mark
Bradley
An Original Work / July 20, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
“Come to Me all you
who thirst; come to waters.
Listen to Me, and
eat what’s good today,
And your soul will
delight in richest of fare.
Give ear to Me, and
you will live.
I have made an
eternal covenant with you.
Wash in the blood of
the Lamb.”
Seek the Lord while
He may be found; call on Him.
Let the wicked
forsake his way, in truth.
Let him turn to the
Lord, and he will receive mercy.
Freely, God pardons
him.
“For My thoughts are
not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My
ways,”
declares the Lord,
our God.
“My word that goes
out of My mouth is truthful.
It will not return
to Me unfulfilled.
My word will
accomplish all that I desire,
And achieve the goal
I intend.
You will go in joy
and be led forth in peace.
The mountains will
burst into song… before you,
And all of the trees
clap their hands.”
Immediately They
Followed Him
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