Following Jesus

I have been a Christian since I was in third grade. I will say that when I became a Christian, I simply knew that I wanted to go to heaven when I died. You might say I became a Christian out of fear rather than choosing a life of following Jesus. I have learned many times and in many ways over the years the HUGE BENEFITS of following Jesus. With that said, I will be the first to admit that it’s not easy to follow Jesus. It’s often like swimming upstream against a strong current.

Jesus reminded His followers that following Him means giving up some things that appear awesome, only to discover that they are temporary and empty. Check this out….

²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. ²⁵ If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. ²⁶ And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul? (Matthew 16:24-26 NLT)

This little paragraph is packed full of secrets to life. I’ve seen incredibly wealthy people who are most miserable because they’ve lost themselves. Others appear successful in every way only to be lonely and empty inside.  I’ve learned that surrender to Jesus’ way of living is very fulfilling and filled with deep meaning. I’ve learned that the blessing of God upon my life is worth more than all the wealth this world has, and the world has lots of wealth. I do enjoy seeing wealthy people whose lives are grounded in following Jesus. They have the proper perspective on wealth – it serves the kingdom, others, and them. I don’t believe wealth should be an end in or of itself. I believe wealth can be built for the discipline it takes to build it, but also for the benefit of using it to serve the Kingdom.

I want to live an unselfish life for the Kingdom of God.

I want to give generously to the Kingdom of God.

I want to hold loosely to the money I have, because it all came from the blessing of God upon me, my family, and my business.

Surrender is way easier to talk about than to live out. Trust is easy when reading about it and even writing about it, but it’s hard when I must trust Him. Discipline looks good on paper but is practically hard.  I want to learn the continued value of delayed gratification in all areas of my life. This is not meant to be a deep dive on following Jesus but following Him starts with surrender of all that I am and all that I have.

Pressing On!

Dwayne