Our world is constantly seeking to seduce us away from the Lord. If we can be lured away from full surrender to our Lord then the world wins. If you and I are simply distracted from the things of God by the things of the world we will be like "salt that has lost its savor", salt which has been rendered useless for its intended purpose by becoming contaminated by impurities.
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing anymore, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men.”
Matthew 5:13, NASB
What are you distracted by? Many times good things distract us from the best things. For me one of the greatest distractions is technology. I love computers of all kinds; desktop, laptop, tablet, etc. I also love the convenience of having a smartphone and the world, literally, at your fingertips. But for me the danger is that I am allowing technology, which is a good thing, to distract me in my relationship and fellowship with the Lord, which is the best thing. Watch the following clip from John Piper.
Think about your life this week. How much time do you spend daily with technology; FaceBook, Twitter, texting, etc.? Compare it to how much time do you spend daily with the Lord; Scripture reading, Scripture study, Scripture meditation, prayer, etc.? Then ask yourself, "Am I living a distracted life or a surrendered life?"
“And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.
For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?”
Luke 9:23-25, NASB
I set this blog up many months ago, but have never written an entry till today. At the time the title of the blog was "Fruit From The Vine", referring to the passage in John 15 when the Lord Jesus teaches on the vine and the branches. We, as the branches, are to abide in the Lord Jesus, the true Vine, to bear fruit. A wonderful passage of Scripture, but I truly believe that the key to Christian discipleship is found in our Lord's words in Luke 9.
“...If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life shall lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.” Luke 9:23, 24, NASB
The child of God must daily; deny themselves, take up their cross (die to self, sin, and the world), and follow Jesus Christ as Lord of their life. It is a life of complete and total surrender to Christ's Lordship. His will is to be our will. His life is to be our life. This past week this was brought to me vividly through a song and a story from church history. The story which I first heard many years ago in a church history class, has now come back to bring great conviction to my heart. A story of two Moravian men in 1732 who literally sold themselves into slavery that they might share the Gospel of Christ with others. As they set sail, sacrificing their lives that others might hear, they shouted, "MAY THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN RECEIVE THE REWARD OF HIS SUFFERINGS!"
This past week I heard this story again as I listened to Matt Papa's newest song, "The Reward Of His Suffering." Watch the video, listen to the song and ask yourself the question, are you truly taking up your cross daily and following Jesus as Lord?
