Luke 9:23
Then he said to all, “Anyone who wants to
follow me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his
cross with him every day and keep close to me!
The
Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by
permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois
60188. All rights reserved.
A few days ago, I
vacuumed the floors. Allow me to explain why this is worth noting.
Vacuuming floors had been on my “to-do” list for several days. Things
kept coming up that were more important – or more enjoyable – than
vacuuming floors. I should wait until after I did laundry and finished a
sewing project, because there would be lint and dust and all of those
tiny little threads all over the floors! Then I needed to attend a
funeral, so there was no time – the floors could wait another day! And
then I decided that I should wait again and do the floors closer to time
for our young niece and nephews to visit, so that they would have a
nice clean playing surface (and yes, I do know that once the children
visit, the floors need another vacuuming!)
It gets to be a vicious cycle sometimes…and at some point I have to say, “Okay…this is it!
Today, I vacuum!” Maybe you can relate to this silly analogy…but even
if you cannot, consider this…we make up all sorts of excuses about
following Jesus that are just as silly in the scheme of things.
It’s
not convenient…or what He is asking us to do is “outside our comfort
zone.” We tell Him, “I’ll do this…tomorrow!” And tomorrow never
comes. We straddle the fence in the presence of our peers…makes no sense to express
a different opinion and risk alienating them! We go along with the
crowd six ways to Sunday. We fall down, mess up, and promise to do
better next time…but then we turn right around and repeat our mistakes.
If you go back in Luke 9, some earlier verses talk about our desire to control things vs. God’s. In The Message
translation, it even says “Anyone who intends to come with me has to
let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat—I am.” But we don’t want
to hear this…we want to “drive” and be in full control. As my cousin
Natalie says…we want to tell God how to do things, because we think our
way is so much better. Luke reminds us in this passage that this is
clearly not the case!
So while it really doesn’t make that much
difference which day I vacuum…or if I choose not to for a few days
longer than I ought…it does matter when we ignore God. We cannot claim
to be Christ’s disciple and then insist on “driving the car.” It simply
does not work that way...and if we are arrogant enough to insist that
it does, we’ve as much as said, “Lie down in the seat, LORD, so no one
will see that You are with me!” (Remember when you tried to pull that
with your mom? You SURELY didn’t want her to sit right next to you in
case you needed any sudden assistance!)
When we act embarrassed
by Jesus…or insist on having control, we blow it – big time…and Jesus
makes note. It’s not so much that we will be “punished” in some way for
this as much as it’s the fact that this is disrespectful…hurtful…and
downright unbecoming of Christian disciples. We should want Jesus by our side. We should crave
His wisdom and guidance. We should seek His answers and attention at
every turn, simply because of Who He is and what He has done – and does –
for us.
The question of the day is…”How are you treating Jesus –
and your relationship with Him?” Whose desires and conveniences are
top priority – His, or your own? Your answer matters greatly. Isn’t it
time you figured out Who should drive…and let Him? Will this be the day
that you begin?
©2015 Debbie Robus
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