This morning I was reading the last part of the Sermon on the Mount. In a way, it is not for the weak of heart. Following is not easy and there are some demands. So how does that fit together with, "I am humble and lowly of heart and you will find rest for your souls?" (How does that fit into the my reading in Zechariah and Revelation this morning?)
I think that in discipleship you always follow Jesus. Kind of simplistic to say that, right? I think the Love for Him overwhelms our fears or the contradictory, paradoxical demands of following in grace. Love gives you wings. We don't have to read our Bibles, but we do have to. We don't have to reach the lost, but we do have to. We don't have to, once saved, seek Christ and His Kingdom every day, but we do have to.
So what makes the demands "easy." It must be sitting with that person you deeply love and listening to them and talking with them. This is what the twelve had every evening. This seems to be the passion of the hardest working apostle of them all….I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own.
So where does that inner tension come from? I think it must be realistic relationship. Even with Jesus loving us as He does, there are still commands. So when we don't obey or when it is hard for us to do what He says, there is naturally tension, but there is not the deep condemnation, not the final failure. God knows and has everything in control, so he presses us but if we decide not to follow, it doesn't become a permanent failure in eternity…He still accomplished His will. And there will be the day of repentance and there we will find full and complete acceptance and love.
It seems to me that at every point, even where we are highly striving in following, we find rest in Christ, not in accomplishment or goals. Goals change and not all given goals will get done. Christ is the one who we seek after and even here, there will be levels of what has been asked. But we should never not seek to strive or follow, because in not doing this, we are saying we do not trust his gentleness or the rest he'll provide. We are saying the safety of not obeying and hoping in his grace is better than trusting His word and the care He promises when we sit with him. Funny that the paradox of not striving to follow, is never truly finding His gentleness and lowliness of heart.
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 16 & 17
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis
The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is
I think that in discipleship you always follow Jesus. Kind of simplistic to say that, right? I think the Love for Him overwhelms our fears or the contradictory, paradoxical demands of following in grace. Love gives you wings. We don't have to read our Bibles, but we do have to. We don't have to reach the lost, but we do have to. We don't have to, once saved, seek Christ and His Kingdom every day, but we do have to.So what makes the demands "easy." It must be sitting with that person you deeply love and listening to them and talking with them. This is what the twelve had every evening. This seems to be the passion of the hardest working apostle of them all….I press on to make it my own, because Christ has made me His own.
So where does that inner tension come from? I think it must be realistic relationship. Even with Jesus loving us as He does, there are still commands. So when we don't obey or when it is hard for us to do what He says, there is naturally tension, but there is not the deep condemnation, not the final failure. God knows and has everything in control, so he presses us but if we decide not to follow, it doesn't become a permanent failure in eternity…He still accomplished His will. And there will be the day of repentance and there we will find full and complete acceptance and love.
It seems to me that at every point, even where we are highly striving in following, we find rest in Christ, not in accomplishment or goals. Goals change and not all given goals will get done. Christ is the one who we seek after and even here, there will be levels of what has been asked. But we should never not seek to strive or follow, because in not doing this, we are saying we do not trust his gentleness or the rest he'll provide. We are saying the safety of not obeying and hoping in his grace is better than trusting His word and the care He promises when we sit with him. Funny that the paradox of not striving to follow, is never truly finding His gentleness and lowliness of heart.
LOOKING OUT FOR NUMBER ONE Chapters 16 & 17
Copyright 1994 Daniel G. Kachikis
The story has been removed from the blog as of June 2015 and is now an e-book on Kindle. The Amazon link is
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