Radical Allegiance. Are you in?

Day 49,

It was another beautiful day at work today.  The temperature was perfect, the sun lit up the bright blue sky, and once again the clouds dancing by were amazing.  Today was different than last week though because we had received 2.14 inches of rain the night before and evidence of the intense rain was visible by the many puddles and washed out areas on the property.  The biggest evidence of the rain was the puddle in the barn arena that was probably a 10ft circle of water and soft sand.  Because of the water in the barn our equine people were unable to work with the horses today.  I also had to be careful where I mowed today to keep my mower from getting stuck.  So even though it was a beautiful day, I could still see evidence of the rain from the night before.

I relay this story of my day to you because tonight we covered the next to last chapter of the book Radical and I could see the evidence of rain in my bright and sunny soul.  This rain happened to be areas in my life where I am still holding out on Jesus and keeping him from completely renewing me.  These areas of resistance and sin have damaged parts of me and are in need of repair.  All of this was illuminated but Jesus' light through the chapter we studied in small group tonight.

The chapter discussed the idea of living when dying is gain.  Do we live our lives as though we are ready to die at any moment for Jesus?  Do we understand that to live for Christ is to understand that our life is not our own?  Are we willing to forsake mother and father, sister and brother for Jesus?  Do we truly believe that in losing our life we will find it in Jesus?  All of these questions are a great struggle to me and in fact haunt me as I walk in Christ.

I would like to believe that my answer is, "yes" to each one of these questions and yet I find myself being to scared to tell someone about Christ because of the risk of embarrassment.  I find myself to scared to get on a plane to another country because I am more afraid of the plane than the country.  Could not God surely ensure my safety on a plane if He is calling me to another country.  I find myself unwilling to part with the money I have unless it is for something I want.  I find myself comfortable in the life I live not wanting to take risk or get outside my comfort zone.  Can you relate?

I have done many things for Jesus in my life.  I have taught the word, preached the word, told strangers about Christ, lived boldly against persecution of my relationship with Christ, and staked my life on Christ.  I have seen Jesus work in me, through me, through my family, through my friends, and through complete strangers.  I know that He is alive and well in the world today.  I know He is working in people's hearts around me and yet at times I find myself hesitant to live the way He has asked me to.  I find myself scared.

Living for Christ requires a complete and surrendered commitment to Him.  We serve Him and obey Him because we love and respect Him.  We are even willing to go to our death, imprisonment, and torture because we love Him and trust that He is worthy to follow.  We stake our lives on Him because we know our lives are only a vapor in the wind and His kingdom is forever.  Friends and loved ones I hope that you too will wrestle with what it truly looks like to follow Christ via His own words in the Bible.  May you live for Him with fervor and passion.  May you disregard your own safety in pursuit of furthering His kingdom.  I hope you never tell Him, "no."  He is worth our praise, our devotion, and our sacrifice.  Will you radically follow Jesus today?

Blessing,

Greg