The bare minimum …
The bare minimum we take away from this text is that God is telling us that the life he offers is dramatically different than the life we would choose. Christ calls us to “say no to the things [we] want” and to say “yes” to whatever he wants for the rest of our lives – “pick up [our] crosses every day.”
We struggle with this in a few ways as this calls us from the familiar to the unknown, challenges our control and is contrary to our social sub-structure, as in this is not the norm, not what most professing Christians believe experientially.
But life with Jesus is anything but the norm. The norm is that you read your Bible, go to church, tithe, keep your nose clean and God will enhance the life you have chosen. It might not be what we say, but it is what many believe.
Enhanced life or a transformed life?
But that is not what God says, and we still have our question on the board. Is what God offers that good that we should give up everything? Maybe we should ask, Is he Lord or not?
The new life Jesus purchased for us with his shed blood surpasses anything we could dream or imagine, but the offer is not to enhance our lives but to make us new. The reason that many do not have the abundance Christ speaks of is because they are trying to squeeze the riches of grace out of the material of the old life instead of wearing the garment of salvation.
- Religion can happen in the church pew, but transformation only happens on the path. Only there do we find the “yes” we have been looking for.
Beyond Pretend © 2010 David Lee Scott
