Jesus understood the true nature of the human condition….and that is the fact that each of us comes to a moment of truth and we must make a decision as to who we will be and what we will do.  Sometimes that moment passes and we have not made the decision—and it never comes up again.  And sometimes in that moment we make a life-changing choice that forever changes our destiny.

 

I think many of us would call this the Moment Of Truth.  If you have never had that moment—today is your day.

 

If you have….it falls upon you today to take this moment and offer it to all you know.

 

Luke 9 59He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”  60Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  61Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-bye to my family.”  62Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

 

When I first read both of these conversations I did not understand them.  I thought….Jesus is “harsh”.….why would He say something like this?

 

I have to think that Jesus understood that these were Moment Of Truth conversations.  That they were going to be determining factors in the destiny of two different men.  And we do not know from scripture what happened to either one of them.  Did they walk away or did they realize that the time to decide was NOW?

 

This is all the more support for the simple fact that we will determine our destinies—that God is sovereign and He controls all things….but He does not control our choice–or the choices of those around us.  We must each decide who we will be and who we will follow.

 

I do believe that Jesus will give us the choice to choose OR reject Him…that we will live out our days as a disciple or in a state of running, denying, or hiding from the gospel….

 

But for today I want to deal with the fence-sitters.

 

I think many people will sit on the fence….and maybe even say that they will commit to the Lord later—after they get through a season—or maybe even as a permission slip to walk with God AFTER a pursuit of sin is completed.

 

I think this verse is very clear:  God doesn’t work like that…and that mindset is not OF Him….

 

Yes….He is full of grace and quick to show compassion—but He is not a doormat.  He is, after all, the Living God!

 

As I meditated on the first verse, another came to mind out of 2 Timothy.

 

2 Timothy 2  1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. 3Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs–he wants to please his commanding officer. 5Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. 6The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.

 

I think God put this on my heart because of the options that we have.  I think He is trying to tell us that there are three facets to following Him:

  1. Sacrifice
  2. Trust
  3. Faith

Soldiers SACRIFICE…they give up everything to walk forward into what they are called or asked to do.  They give up EVERYTHING, and I mean EVERYTHING, to serve and protect.  Sometimes they follow orders that they do not understand, or even agree with, because that is their duty.

Athletes TRUST…they learn to lean on their teammates and they must constantly renew their perspective—and their trust—in order to ultimately succeed.  EVEN when they have been let down before—they must fight back and build trust and believe again.

Farmers display FAITH…they work on a field for hours and hours without being able to see if what they are doing is even working.  But day after day, hour after hour, in the hot sun from dusk till dawn, a farmer toils to bring about his crop.

 

I believe that these are a few of the reasons that God mentions these three examples in His word for us—He wants us to carry these qualities and follow Him.

 

2000 years ago Jesus put a claim on saving us from the pits of hell….and though we use this phrase loosely in many ways….this is not a figurative statement.  He came to save us from pits of hell.  We get to respond.  Do we want what He has?  Do we want what He is offering?  Do we want to drop everything and follow Him?

 

All of our lives we learn that we can not count on people.  Sometimes these learning opportunities are major…sometimes they are small.  We learn, through a consistent body of evidence, that other people let us down, they betray us, they turn their backs on us, they use us, and they condemn us.

 

But God is not like that.

 

Jesus made a choice to do just the opposite.

 

We let Him down.  We became enemies of God and turned away from what He called us and created us to do.  We turned our back on Him and betrayed Him.

 

But He chose to overlook that and come to save us anyway.

 

On a cross on Calvary some 2000 years ago Jesus was nailed to a cross….but it wasn’t nails that held Him to that cross….it was His love for you.

 

At any moment He could have come down and aborted the mission—but He chose to be the blood sacrifice that would atone for your sin.

 

I have never had a good player make a play by not reacting.  Good players trust their teammates.

They let go and play with abandon.

They react….and they react in a way that is almost ahead what is going on.

 

They react with violence and decisiveness and enthusiasm.

 

And when they do this, they show up with velocity and power and beat their opponents to the punch.

 

That, my friends, is exactly what Jesus is asking us to do.

 

He is offering us a deal that is better than anything we have ever seen or heard of……

 

RESPOND TO HIS CALL.

 

It will be the greatest decision you have ever made.

 

In The Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

 

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Coach J