(Audio)
He said to him, "Follow me."
And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him.
Lent gives us a time to lay down encumbrances which keep us from following Jesus. What keeps us from moving at his word? What stifles the good impulses he inspires in our hearts? To this end, some soul searching is necessary.
"Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do.
I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners."
We need a physician who is able to show us the path to life. This is the way Jesus alone can lead as we follow after him.. When we abandon possessions or habits or comforts it is not simply a negation, nor even for the sake of an abstract good. We do these things so that we can remain near to Jesus Christ.
Following Jesus ultimately means becoming like him. It means learning that we get more joy out of loving and serving than we do from receiving for ourselves.
If you remove from your midst oppression,
false accusation and malicious speech;
If you bestow your bread on the hungry
and satisfy the afflicted;
Then light shall rise for you in the darkness,
and the gloom shall become for you like midday;
Then the LORD will guide you always
and give you plenty even on the parched land.
This is not an easy lesson. But Jesus shows it to us first hand. He came not to be served but to serve. He came to lay down his life as a ransom for many. Even though he emptied himself and took the form of a slave to die for us while we were yet sinners he did not lead a life of self-loathing. Rather, no one was ever more joyful and secure in the Father's love.
We are invited to put Jesus absolutely first in our lives this Lent. If we hedge our bets we will miss the whole point.
If you hold back your foot on the sabbath
from following your own pursuits on my holy day;
If you call the sabbath a delight,
and the LORD's holy day honorable;
If you honor it by not following your ways,
seeking your own interests, or speaking with maliceB
Then you shall delight in the LORD,
When we choose to follow Jesus and to learn to love as he loves we begin to experience the same joy and peace he has in the Father's love for him. We become for others a sign of his presence.
He will renew your strength,
and you shall be like a watered garden,
like a spring whose water never fails.
The ancient ruins shall be rebuilt for your sake,
and the foundations from ages past you shall raise up;
"Repairer of the breach," they shall call you,
"Restorer of ruined homesteads."
So, with the psalmist, we pray "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth."
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