Covered in the Dust: Part III - We've Left Everything

"Peter began to say to him, 'Look, we have left everything and followed you.' Jesus said, 'Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age—houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions - and in the age to come eternal life.'"
-Mark 10:28

Jesus called Matthew saying, "Follow Me," and Matthew answered extravagantly. He left his tax booth behind. Jesus called Peter saying, "Follow me, and I will make you [a fisher] of mankind," and Peter left the boat, and abandoned his nets. Every disciple had to let go of their life as they knew it in order to follow Christ.

Today the call of Christ rings out, "Follow Me." Many never hear that call, and this is a tragedy, but the greater tragedy is those who hear, but stand paralyzed by the fear of leaving their lives behind. But Jesus made it abundantly clear, being a disciple was difficult endeavor, and the cost of being his disciple was everything. In Mark 8:34 we read,

He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, "If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?"

But what does this mean practically for us today? Are we all to become roving evangelists, or missionaries to some far off region? Is God going to send us to
Africa if we offer ourselves as his disciple? While that may be the plan God has for you, I will say that it is statistically rare, so probably not. Practically, becoming a modern disciple of Jesus means declaring to yourself and to God that nothing you possess, no relationship you have, no dreams you hold are worth more than being submitted to the will of God.

How can you be sure that you've submitted your life to God? Ask yourself a few questions. If God asked you to walk away from your vocation, and serve him in the medical field, or the pastorate, or some other area in which he may have given you gifts, how would you respond? Would you leave your nets like Peter did? Could you abandon your booth like Matthew? What if God asked you to give away more of your time, money, or resources than you currently do? Would you obey, or would you like the young man in Mark 10:17 walk away with a heavy heart because your things own you, rather than you owning your things.

The cost of discipleship is great. Throughout history, many disciples have left everything, many have lost their lives, but they lived with an eye toward heaven, and they are receiving their reward.

Homework this week: Pray, "God, show me where I am not submitted to you. Help me to be your faithful disciple. Give me the strength to follow wherever you lead."

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