A full day accompanied by You, Father! Thank You for Your abiding presence. It is not something I take for granted. I cherish it all!

Mark 10:28-31 (<<click to read the passage)

As I’ve mentioned before, following Christ is not for the lazy or the weak of heart. It is a lifelong, against the current battle. The world takes the natural route downstream and we, as believers in Christ, are diligently swimming upstream.

Have you ever been to a mall or a large venue of some sort with a ton of people and they are all going one way and you need to go the other? People are usually not very cooperative. In fact, many of them can be downright mean, some maybe even hostile to your choice of direction.

That, my friends, is the way of Christ.

Peter spoke up in verse 28 and said that he and the others had “given up everything” to follow Jesus. And Jesus acknowledged that fact but assured them that whatever they had given up they would get back a hundred times over. Of course, we have to keep in mind that we are talking Jesus math and not worldly math. It is not some sort of get-rich-quick scheme but our reward here on this side of eternity will far outweigh our loss.

That in and of itself is a tough way to go but Jesus stressed that that will not be all we get. Along with all of that will come persecution, as well (verse 31). That is what we get for going against the flow – the “flow” travelers being uncooperative and mean and…maybe even hostile.

The Apostle Paul, when writing to the Corinthian church penned these words,

But the natural [unbelieving] man does not accept the things [the teachings and revelations] of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness [absurd and illogical] to him; and he is incapable of understanding them, because they are spiritually discerned and appreciated, [and he is unqualified to judge spiritual matters]. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (AMP)

Those going with the flow just don’t understand why in the world we even consider going against the flow. But we do…and we must.

You may be bumped. You may be jostled. You may be hit – physically or verbally or emotionally. It’s going to happen but we are to love and not retaliate. Who knows who might be convinced to turn the other way if in our strivings we shine forth the love of Jesus? The more the merrier and the greater our reward will be!

June 6th, 2019, Thurs, 8:20 pm