I’m still reading the book Not a Fan (and still being blown away by its awesome-ness, to coin a new word). The part I read was about passionate pursuit as a part of being a true follower of Jesus and not just a fan.
This part really hit me hard. It convicted me big time. Where Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me,” the part that got me wasn’t what you think it would be.
It was “come after”. The book talks about coming after Jesus like a man passionately and romatically pursues a woman. It means to “follow hard” after God, as it says in the Psalms.
It means that I must want God more than I want anything in this life. I must love God more than family, more than friends, more than a spouse, more than a career, more than even my own life.
It means that no price is too high to pay to follow Jesus and know His heart for the world. Even carrying the cross daily is not too high a price. Death is not too high a price.
I was convicted that I am still captive to what others think. I am still bound to if someone likes what I say or doesn’t like it. I have to die to that. The only opinion that matters is what God thinks. If I am seeking to please people, as the Bible says, I won’t be aiming to please God.
The question of the hour is this: How much do I really want God? How much am I willing to risk, how much am I willing to sacrifice to pursue the God who pursued me with everything He had?
The Bible talks about wanting God more than life. As the deer pants for the water, so should we want God. Water isn’t something that would be nice to have. It’s life. In the same way, God isn’t one more thing to make my life better. He’s my life.
Until I see my deep need and until I recognize that my very survival depends on me pursuing God at all costs until He finds me, I will never really truly follow hard after Him.
As always, I am a work in progress who is learning a new way to live and a new way to think. God is perfectly patient with me. I pray you will be, too. I will do my best to be patient with you.
And above all, let us learn what it means to come after Jesus until it is our all-consuming desire. That’s my prayer for you tonight.
Ragamuffingospelfan's Blog 
This is amazing, thats one of my favourite verses in the bible (take up your cross) and this puts a new perspective on it.
Well written 🙂
Jesus looks at us and says: be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Paul says, the person who is perfect has this mind; he is not perfect yet but gets credit for being perfect because his entire leaning, inclination, and straining is toward perfection.
If you were to ask man 100 years ago: do you think men will ever walk on the moon? You would immediately rise to the top of a short list with the dubious distinction of king/queen of village Idiots. Ask that Question today and the answer returned would be: why,…….. haven’t you heard!
“But why, some say, the moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas?…We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too” JFK. In 1961 when Kennedy made his now famous pledge to land a man on the Moon, the USA had only 15 minutes piloted spaceflight experience and only 5 minutes of that was in space while the Russians had already completed missions in orbit. Kennedy the face of virtually impossible odds due to limitations in technology and know how pushed NASSAU beyond their limits of planning a mission to fly around the moon and return, to land a man on the moon; coming form behind the Russians to achieve higher than expected goals.
The difference between limitation and liberty is knowledge. If confronted by limitations, the best course it to seek the know-how. By knowledge you shall be liberated form constraints; whatever the form. When confronted by limitations, if our first recourse is to concede, yield, and embrace them; we might well be going to sleep under a Russian moon, and flying a British flag for a national banner. Limitations by their varied and sundry forms are all the brood of ignorance; wherever found they should be banished. Ignorance is not so damnable as humbug, but when it prescribes pills (as does the wisdom of men) it may happen to do more harm”— George Eliot. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
It would serve us well to listen to JFK stir our nation to it’s feet at darker times in our history, to avert the real threat of Russian dominance in the outer space.
LINK BELOW: (the features a transcript of the inspirational speech, and an audio recording plays in the background)
http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/jfk-space.htm
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, it is the power of God to be delivered from all things which we could before not be delivered from. We seldom discern the wisdom of men which makes void the power of God; because by appearance it often seem wiser than even God’s council which is utter foolishness among men.
We should raise our awareness to the things that God has said and done, and the world is yet unaware of it. The way the Bible describes brainwashing is stated in (Isaiah 25:7—the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations.) This covering, this veil that overspreads the whole world is the wisdom of man. The only way to overcome this is to receive the gift of the mind of Christ whereby by realize that all things are possible with us. If all your lives you are told one thing, in this case the wisdom of man; even if the truth is in front of you, you will not see it because of this veil that covers the face of the world.
Take this 20-second AWARENESS TEST and see what I mean.
God has written to us of the great things of his law, but we have counted them as foolishness. Mark 9:23—Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth. Luke 18:27—The things, which are impossible with men, are possible with God. Matthew 17:20—. …and nothing shall be impossible unto you. After Jesus rebuked the storm, wind and tempest tossed sea, the disciples looked at him in wonder and asking each other; what manner of man is this. Jesus asked them, where is your faith? He expected them to do the same things he did; Jesus wasn’t the only one that walked on water, Peter did for a short while; this is so symbolic of the short period of time the church got it right after Jesus departed.
There are two parties identified here with whom it is said that all things are possible, with God and with men who believe. This is the righteousness of God, it transfers to man all the things of God that are given to men by believing, even God himself as the gift first given to Abraham, and promised to we his seed in Christ is transferred to man by the faith of God, that man is supposed to have.
Rag:
Very nice thoughts. This is a particularly challenging passage to anyone who wishes to follow Jesus. Keep asking those questions.
I have never considered the ‘coming after Jesus’ to be aligned with romantic pursuits, however, the singleminded doggedness in which a man pursues his love (or visa versa) is a very apt way of looking at this. The hours spent thinking of her, calling her, walking by her house, writing to her, dreaming about her, writing poetry to her, songs for her, drawing her face, blogging for her (each according to his own gifts), available for her needs and wants and requests.
Having that same singlemindedness in following Jesus will be a good thing.