27My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me. 28I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand.
John 10:27-28
10“Don’t be afraid,” Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people.” 11Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.
Luke 5:10-11
27After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me.” 28So, leaving everything behind, he got up and began to follow him.
Luke 5:27-28
Maybe you grew up like I did with the religious environment of…
“If you don’t want to go to Hell, pray this prayer and Jesus will save you.”
The only problem with this philosophy of ministry is Jesus’ way of leading people away from their sin.
Jesus led people away from sin by telling them to Follow him.
And then they left everything and Followed him.
Hmmmm…seems like Jesus led them to more than a “get out of hell free” prayer.
Faith is seeing things the way God sees them and then act on it.
Or more simply said by Jesus…
Hear and Follow Me.
Faith and Hope are connected together…
Whatever we Hope in, we will have Faith in.
Whatever we have Faith in, we will Hope in.
The Object of our life’s Foundation will be the Object the Pillars of Hope and Faith are built upon.
Hope is the vision we see of how the Object will certainly make our future better.
Faith are the steps we take to make the vision the Object gives us become a reality.
When the disciples left everything to Follow Jesus, they saw something in him that would certainly make their futures better.
What did the disciples see in Jesus?
10A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance.
John 10:10
Now, the disciples didn’t fully see how Jesus would give them Life until after he died, resurrected, ascended to Heaven and the Spirit came upon them.
And yet, there was something about Jesus that led them to give up everything.
The good news in all of this…you don’t have to know all of what it means that Jesus gives abundant Life in your soul. I don’t know all of what it means. The first disciples didn’t know.
God reveals himself, his image and his Life one step at a time.
Now the question becomes…
“Do I need to give up my organization, position, etc. to go into ministry?”
No. Well. Not unless Jesus specifically tells you too. Or, like Levi/Matthew, you’re a people-cheating, swindling tax collector.
Here’s what giving your life means…
Your organization, salary, benefits, position are all created order things. They do not produce Life inside your soul. These are held with an open hand.
What you hold in a closed hand is your Hear & Follow relationship with Jesus. You Hear & Follow Jesus First, Before anything else. This way, everything could crumble all around you, but your Foundation, Pillars and Life stay strong because of the strength God places inside your life.
Hear & Follow Jesus First, Before anything else
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Then, if God leads you to sell everything to be a missionary, you do so. Or if God leads you to fund a church planter’s salary for a year, you do so. Or if God leads you to be CEO of a major non-profit instead of a major for-profit, you do so. Or if God leads…
You trust Jesus will flood your soul with abundant Life when you Hear & Follow him…no matter to what end he leads you.
The goal is to lead you to engage with God’s Word so you can Hear & Follow Jesus in the everyday…especially in your leadership. Sign up for daily emails HERE so you can have the content delivered directly to you. You’ll receive a 1-minute email read with a link to a 5-minute blog read each day.