Jesus said, "Follow me"; can you or do you really? Hmmm!

 Good morning all.  God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  TOO BLESSED TO BE STRESSED!!!

  Will you follow Jesus?  Let's look at this and not just think, but meditate on it.  Matthew 4:19 And He said unto them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  And what happened?  These 2 men, Simon Peter and Andrew, got up left their fishing nets and began to follow Jesus Christ.  Huh?  Who is this man that is a complete stranger telling them to follow Him and they do.  Think about how this could have come about.  Why did they leave EVERYTHING BEHIND and follow Jesus?

  Then we come to another and see what Jesus told him.  Luke 9: 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow Thee, but let me first go bid those farewell who are at home at my house.”  

  Here is another man wanting to follow Jesus and what is the difference between him and  Peter and Andrew?  The first two dropped everything and went with Jesus; then this man wanted to do what.  Go back and tell his household goodbye. So how does Jesus respond to this?

  Luke 9: 62 And Jesus said unto him, “No man, having put his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the Kingdom of God.”   What does Jesus mean from this? What does Jesus want from us?  Total dedication, not half-hearted commitment.  We cannot pick and choose which ideas of Jesus we wish to follow, we can't follow him at our will.  We have to accept the cross along with the crown.  We have to willing to abandon everything and not look back. Think of Lots wife--do you want to be a pillar of salt?

  What do you think Paul has to say?   Phillipians 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended it, but this one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

  Paul is telling us to forget our past and go forth to "those things which are before";  and what does Paul mean by this?  Phillipans 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.   Paul, who was Saul, did many things in his past (killing Christians) for which he is now repentant of and we all have things in our past that we regret.  But, we must not dwell or hang on to those things of the past, but move forward and reach for the prize of the high call of God in Christ Jesus.

  As in 1 Corinthians 9:24 - we don't just run a race to run; we run the race to win.  We are all in this race together, the difference is that we all may win.  If you and I run the race for Jesus Christ, WE CAN ALL BE WINNERS and claim the prize!  The prize of ETERNAL LIFE WITH GOD!!!  Amen and Amen!  

  Thank you for reading with me today. Love you all. Don't let down, run to win souls for Jesus!

In Christ's love and grace,

Johnny