Most people who say they are Christians and have decided to follow Jesus
would agree to a number of things:
* That Jesus rose from the dead and was vindicated by the Spirit as God’s anointed King,
the Judge of all the earth, and the only Savior of the world
* That Jesus, because He is Lord – and because He has saved us from an eternity
without Him, is worthy of our very best
* That because of Jesus, we are not only blessed by His goodness and presence and
kindness here – but blessed in the eternal dimension that follows; the best is yet to come!
* That because we belong to Jesus, we are His Body – His Gathered – His means of
accomplishing His mission.
Now, given we know all that and profess all that, how that gets lived out in our lives is different than you might think. Sometimes what that means is that we see ourselves as great consumers of God products – truth, forgiveness, comfort, strength, and help. But really… at times we see ourselves as takers – and Jesus as the Giver. Following Him means that He is not just giving – but leading us; that He is at the front end of any plans we have. Our problem is that we are led astray by our dreams of wealth, comfort, success and popularity – and we trade our heritage and calling for stuff that doesn’t last, wears out, gets outdated and fades into obscurity – just like every king, emperor and warrior that tried to build a legacy for themselves!