Sacrifice is worth it

Mark 1:28 tells us, “And immediately His fame spread abroad throughout all the region about Galilee.” Mark wants us to know Jesus was famous - I like that. Jesus was the first rock star, the first major celebrity. People had never seen or experienced anyone like Jesus.

In Mark 3:21 we read, “When His family heard what was happening they tried to take Him away. ‘He’s out of His mind, they said.” They thought Jesus was literally crazy. That bums me out, but I also find some peace in that because as we follow Jesus, they will think we are a little crazy too. I hope that makes sense.

I’ve been thinking about joining a civic club like Rotary. You know, trying to get more involved in the community (I love my community) and we see this in Jeremiah. I also look to Jesus and try to use Him as an example. Jesus was not a “joiner.” In fact, He was the one you joined, He was the community you joined, you followed Him and you did what He did. His purpose was (is) bigger than any community project regardless of how good it was.

Why do we seek fulfillment or satisfaction beyond Jesus and His kingdom? Why doesn’t our passion for Jesus get red hot and bring us the greatest joy? Why do we want to consistently be served when Jesus was a servant?

In Matthew 8:20 Jesus told us He was homeless then He told a guy, “Hey, you want to be like Me? Then follow Me. Be like Me.” Who wants to follow the homeless man?

Our church is about to celebrate its first year anniversary and I was helping to organize a meal we are going to serve after the one year worship service - as I was thinking about brisket and Frito pie, someone I care about was struggling for their life in the hospital. It makes you think. What’s life about? What’s my life about? How is the crazy man named Jesus influencing me and how am I becoming more like Him and less like myself? How is He changing my priorities (how I spend my time, my money, my influence)? Can I really scroll my life away and measure my life by how many likes I get on Facebook? What if I cared as much about what sat on the top shelf of my heart as I did about who is living in the White House?

In Luke 14:25-33, Jesus was explicit about the cost of following Him, joining His community of faith, being a Christian. Ha, I kind of laughed out loud when I thought about what these red letters said. Some people won’t even crawl into the baptistery let alone give up everything to be a disciple. That’s not discipleship. If I am scared of water, I’m probably too scared to be a disciple.

I was paid a compliment years ago. A man that had been attending my church told me his wife was scared of me. At first that bothered me and I asked, “Why is she scared of me?” He said, “Because you are a man of conviction.” Wow! I will take that all day long.

Are you a person of conviction? Do you have your non-negotiables? Do you know where the red lines are? Or are you in essence rewriting Scripture to make Jesus fit into a mold you have created?

When we say, “God is good, all the time,” we mean it. He can be nothing but good and following Him, being concerned about what He is concerned about, living with His perspective and depending on Him is life changing and worth whatever needs to be sacrificed.

He told me to tell you that.