Everything

"....so that in everything He might have the supremacy." Colossians 1:18...."Groups of Chinese students regularly leave their homeland on a march to Jerusalem. Why? Because the route goes through strongholds of every major religion in the world, and the students' passion for telling the story of Jesus is strong. They know that many of them will die from persecution along the way. They know that they aren't allowed to turn back, even if their family members need them. Regardless of health and hardship, they will continue until they reach Jerusalem or die. In their lives, Christ is supreme.....Intellectual faith in the deity of Jesus requires little risk. Lifestyle faith in the deity of Jesus requires everything." Chris Tiegreen

What are the risks we are willing to take as we follow Jesus? How far will we go into the areas of danger and loss? What cost are we willing to pay in our obedience? These and even deeper questions are staring at us and have to be answered no matter how difficult and no matter how we may seek to avoid answering them.

Tiegreen's telling of the Chinese students is real. Their desire to be a living sacrifice for Him is real. They forsake all, even the demands of family, in order to live out a witness for Him. I know as we read that, we, especially in the west, think that is going beyond what He would ever ask of us, but is it? Is our commitment to Him so deep that we will follow wherever He leads even if it brings pain to those we love? Even if it means losing their love. Many would say that they would draw the line at that, but Christ had no such line. In His earthly ministry, even His family didn't understand Him, and tried to dissuade Him from His purpose, but fulfilling the purpose for which He'd been sent was His priority. Loyalty and devotion to His Father outweighed His devotion to any earthly person or thing, even to those He was closest to and loved deeply.

What I relate now is not for the purpose of casting me in some perfect light. My flaws are many and often glaring, but there have been places in my life where I had to choose between what others I loved desired and obeying and continuing on with Him. The most trying was in my marriage. Without seeking to cast my former mate in an ugly light, I will just say that she came to hate her life as it pertained to my ministry. Her pressure upon me to make major compromises in my calling and belief grew by the year, eventually coming to the point of demanding I leave it completely. For me, and I stress for me, that could never be an option. I make no judgement on others who say it would be, but it wasn't, couldn't be for me. His Word says that His gifts and callings are irrevocable, so how could I turn away? For me, I couldn't turn back. To do so would be a turning of my back on Him. I would not, could not do that. The result was that I lost my marriage, and so much more. My grief was deep, the wounds were deep, but in the depths of my heart, I knew that my choice was the right one. I could not lay down my cross, and I could not leave off following Him completely....no matter the cost. I grieve the loss and the cost, but I don't regret my choice. For me, there never was a choice.

I want to add that the immediate result was crushing. When she left, I had to step out of ministry. No pathway back in seemed to exist. The enemy mocked me relentlessly. That my choice for Him brought the loss of everything. There seemed no pathway back to the life I had given all of myself to. All I could do was trust in His calling. Trust in Him. In due time, despite all that seemed against me, He proved the truth of what Peter wrote in I Peter 4:19, "....and trust yourself to the God who made you, for He will never fail you." He never has, and I know that He never will.

I don't write any of this for any reason other than I believe we are entering into days when such choices will be placed before each of us and all of us who take His name. Following Him is going to bring ever increasing cost and loss. It will affect us, and it will affect our loved ones. Will we press on in Him regardless? We are going to have to answer. We cannot evade His question forever? When He confronts us, when He confronts you, when He requires everything, how will you answer?

Blessings,

Pastor O