The following is this morning’s devotion from my pastor. It struck me that i should repost this. It really spoke to me!
Behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.
Luke 10:3
There is no possible way to play it safe and follow the Jesus of the Bible. None. If you are one of those dear souls that wants life to exist inside of your comfort zone, you might as well tell Jesus to go on without you. There is an American version of religion mistakenly called “christianity”, but it is totally foreign to the faith that Jesus calls us to in the Bible. If you examine the scriptures you will see that Jesus just about always leads His followers into uncomfortable and often dangerous waters. They were called to take great risks. Want to try walking on water? What if you risk it and fail? What if you risk it and succeed?! What if in fear you refuse to try? He often called His disciples to stand against the tide of public opinion, to challenge the mainstream. He still does. Not always easy to be the only one in your house, school or business that chooses to stand up for God’s truth in the face of hostile winds. Forget your comfort zone! One of the most dangerous calls on our lives as followers of Christ is the call to love people as Jesus does and be His light in a dark culture. Loving people the way His does is very risky. You can get hurt, taken advantage of, misunderstood, and certainly be rejected by those you want to love and those who refuse to follow Him. So it is with following Jesus. And of you are a control freak who always wants to be in charge and know what’s coming down the road, you can forget walking with Jesus. He is the ultimate control freak. He retains the right to always be in charge! That’s why He is called Lord. Following Him means never knowing where you are going, just who you are going with. No doubt that following the Jesus of the Bible is a great risk, living outside of your comfort zone and being willing to surrender control. But what’s the option? A life of safety, comfort and self reliance? Sounds like death by a thousand boring days to me! The followers of Jesus in the Bible lived on the “nervous edge” with Him, never knowing what was coming next. But one thing about it, when it was all over they looked back and shouted, “what a ride”! Friend, if the Bible is true, and it is, the greatest life possible is waiting on you right on the other side of your “comfort zone”. Step out and follow the man! It will scare you spitless at times. But there is life in His footsteps! Blessed are the risktakers!
Dear Jesus, why doesn’t following you look today like it did in the Bible? I pray for grace to choose adventure over comfort every time!
