The he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”- Luke 9:23 NIV)
“If Jesus is not Lord of all, then Jesus is not Lord at all.”- Mark Batterson
Mark Batterson begins Chapter 3 (“Draw the Line”) of All In with the observation that, to the first century disciples, normal and radical were synonyms. Because our normal is so subnormal, we’ve turned those words into antonyms. Although we may never have to literally lose our lives by taking up the cross of Jesus, we certainly must die to ourselves, as Pastor Batterson explains:
“If Jesus hung on His cross, we certainly can carry ours. And that isn’t just our greatest responsibility. It’s our highest privilege. Anything less than the complete surrender of our lives to the lordship of Jesus Christ is robbing God of the glory He demands and deserves.”
The author adds that we only get a relationship with God on His terms. Not only can’t we change the rules of engagement- we don’t want to! The problem comes when we try to define the relationship, getting stuck in a spiritual no-man’s land, as Pastor Batterson describes:
“We’re too Christian to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy Christ. We’ve got just enough Jesus to be informed, but not enough Jesus to be transformed.”
Today’s question: At this stage of your desert, transitional journey, is your faith in Jesus informed or transformed? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Finders weepers, losers keepers”
