How do we follow Jesus today?
When we look at characters in the Bible there is always a significant investment to follow Jesus. Even those who were not leaders that followed Jesus sacrificed greatly. The believers of Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost risked everything because they were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. What about you? Are you so convinced that nothing stands in your way to following Jesus or do you find yourself stuck between following Jesus and following worldly or fleshly desires? We need to acknowledge this is a real struggle.
Let’s take a moment and look at Matthew 13:44.
Matthew 13:44 (NKJV): 44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Jesus uses a simile to help his hearers understand the kingdom of heaven. First, we must see the immense value of the kingdom. Do we find value only in the enteral aspect of following Jesus. In other words, do we follow Jesus because we ultimately have home in heaven? If there value today? How does surrendering to Jesus impact my life today. We have to recognize the value of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. He loves us. He encourages us. He convicts us. He guides us. God is with us wherever we God. The value of God’s wisdom in our daily lives is unmeasurable. Do we truly act like people who are indebted Jesus from delivering us from our sins? Maybe we have convinced ourselves our sins are not that bad. Maybe we believe we give God enough. Maybe we believe our relationship with Jesus is about God wanting us to have our best life now. Did Jesus save us to make our lives better or that we might be a demonstration of His grace. That our redeemed lives bring honor to Him. Somehow in American Christianity we have tried to sell the idea that coming to Jesus is about us. Is our salvation not about God. When David penned Psalm 51:12 “Restore to me the joy of your Salvation.” We speak as though salvation is ours. We enjoy the fruits of Jesus’ work, but our redemption is His.
Second, we need to note the joy over the discovery. As we grow and mature in our faith the discover of just how much our salvation cost and how great our need for our redemption is causes us to have Joy. Why does God want anything to do with any of us. Our sin is stench in the nostrils of God. Most of us think we are realistically good. The problem is that we are comparing ourselves to other broken people. That would be like looking at a bag of grapes that has mold growing on it and choosing one. then saying this one is not to bad. The problem is that we have compared the bad grape to a molded grape. Both of them need to be thrown out. We need to be punished because of our sins, but because of the love of God he saved us. Praise God!
Finally, in this brief story the traveler is willing to sell everything he has in order to buy the field. Are we to attached to our stuff. Has our affluence caused us to be to attached to this world. Am I willing to give up everything to follow Jesus. Has my life been so radically transformed that nothing seems of value in comparison to Jesus.
Is Jesus an add-on?
God forbid! What would need to change in your life to see the immense value of Jesus? Is anything of equal value? Have we allowed things to slowly creep in and take away our awe of Jesus?
