The Walking Dead - Daily Devo 4

Daily Dying Devotion No. 4: FOLLOW THE LEADER

Our mains Scripture: Luke 9:18-27 

vs. 23-24: Then he said to them all: “IF anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and FOLLOW ME."

FOLLOWING JESUS.

We say and hear that phrase a constantly, without really thinking too much about it.

The disciples that day, though, couldn't avoid thinking about it. Jesus had just admitted that He was "The Christ"; the anointed one of God. He told them that the following things had to happen him as Christ:

He would SUFFER.
He would BE REJECTED.
He would BE KILLED.
He would BE RAISED.

And then, Jesus immediately invites them to FOLLOW HIM to where He is going.

They may have really liked the "being raised" part, but probably weren't too crazy about the other stuff.

Honestly, we aren't too crazy about the other stuff either.

The disciples, like you and me, would probably prefer to be "casual followers" of Christ; to watch Jesus like He's on our Twitter feed; getting a little convenient inspiration, grabbing a few cool quotes here and there, but never really investing anything; never really giving-up much.

Funny when we see Jesus talking about suffering and rejection and death, that He then asks his students to FOLLOW. (Kinda makes you realize how hardcore they had to be to accept the invite. :) 

This wasn't just some invitation to stand during a worship service prayer, it was a call to DIE.

I don't know what you think of when you think about following Jesus. But I have a pretty good idea what Jesus thought of. He thought of hard places, difficult times and tough decisions. He thought about sacrifice and perseverance and commitment.

And THAT is where Jesus invites you to follow Him to and into; not just to awesome worship gatherings or to fun youth meetings and cool trips, but into places where you will face adversity, discomfort and sacrifice; not relying on yourselves, but on Him. 

Jesus invites you to walk behind Him into those places because He knows that is where faith lives.

Because Jesus promises that at the end of everything, at the end of the challenges and heartbreak ... is LIFE; true, real, never-ending life.

Are you still willing to FOLLOW now?

Good, let's go.