Carry your rock for Jesus

There’s an old story which is not in the Bible but it makes a great point. Let me share it with you.

Jesus was walking one day with His disciples and He asked each of them to pick up a stone and carry it for Him. They all picked up stones, some bigger, some smaller. Peter picked up the smallest stone possible and placed it in his pocket. They traveled for several hours, arriving at the next town tired and hungry. Jesus immediately turned the stones into bread and said, “Eat up.”

Of course Peter grew very frustrated because his small stone that he had been carrying for Jesus that was now his lunch was not even the size of a McDonald’s Happy Meal, therefore was not satisfying his hunger.

After lunch Jesus again asked His disciples to pick up another stone and carry it for Him. Peter, being a quick learner, picked up a large boulder and placed it on his shoulder and he, Jesus and the disciples traveled to the next town. This time, arriving at a river bank and more tired and more hungry than before, Jesus calmly asked them to throw their stones into the river, which they did at once in obedience to His command. They looked at Him, waiting expectantly for the stones to be turned into bread. Only this time, Jesus did nothing. When Peter and the disciples began to grumble, Jesus said, “For whom did you carry the stone?”

That makes me think about a lot of what I do, why I do it and who am I doing it for. I know who I say I’m doing for, in fact we sing on Sundays, “All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I freely give, I will ever love and trust Him, In His presence daily live.” Ha, we wished it was this way. Can we talk?

How many are doing what they consider “just enough” for Jesus? In other words carrying just enough of a rock so they can be full at meal time but not enough of a load to make a difference in the Kingdom. It’s a process. I get that. I hope this old saying is true, “I’m not where I want to be but I’m not where I used to be.”

In Luke 14:33 Jesus made a significant statement when He said, “So then, any of you who does not forsake (renounce, surrender claim, to give up, say good-bye to) all that he has cannot be my disciple.”

Horton the elephant (yes, that Horton) is one of my favorite Christians and he reminds me of Jesus or maybe it’s Jesus reminds me of Horton. Do you remember what Horton said? “I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant is faithful one hundred percent.” What I’m saying is I think Jesus meant what He said in Luke 134:33. And while it’s a process (we call it transformation or sanctification) are we surrendered to the Holy Spirit enough to experience the growth that Christ wants in our lives so that we are working towards Colossians 1:28 that we might be presented as a mature disciple before Christ one day?

I’m not sure if your load is getting heavier or the stones getting larger is the right metric, but are we being obedient daily (renouncing and surrendering more and more) to whatever it is Jesus asks us to do for Him.

He asked me to tell you that.