“Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.””
‭‭Luke‬ ‭9:61-62‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We lead such busy lives these days. Honestly, I’m not sure how I accomplished all this AND worked 60 hours a week AND all that comes with kids, grandkids, a husband, a house, and a dog. Things slipped through the cracks all the time. Papers piled up, as did the dishes and the laundry. Bills were occasionally overlooked and late. I did everything half-a$$ed and nothing especially well. The one thing I didn’t do was have a relationship with God.

Oh, it’s not like I ignored Him completely. I was always whispering to him with requests. “Please, Lord” this and “Please Lord” that. But to actually invest myself in a relationship? Not a chance. I didn’t have time. I put Him on the back burner like the quilt I was going to finish and never did.

Then, my life started unraveling. “I” started unraveling and it wasn’t till I hit rock bottom that I said “Ok, ok…I surrender!” And even then…I wanted God on MY terms. I wanted to go to church when it was convenient. I wanted to LOOK like a Christian but I didn’t really want to pay the price for the privilege.

We had a guest pastor at church yesterday. Pastor Pace spoke on “filling this house”. And before we can fill this “house”, we have to fill ourselves. His three points in summary were…

We have to acknowledge a NEED for Jesus.

We have to acknowledge the COST to us of our faith.

And, we have to seek a relationship with Christ.

He asked us…if Jesus was creating a Facebook profile and we were writing it, how would we describe him? Do we have a sort of latte-sipping vision of Jesus? Meek, docile, roaming from town to town speaking encouraging words to the masses? Pastor Pace said he sees Jesus as an adventurer, muscular and wiry. He was a visionary, and revolutionary figure. He walked into places and turned the status quo upside down. He was powerful and perfect, loving and kind. He sought out the least of society. He healed with nothing more than the touch of His garment. He was someone people followed.

The pastor went on to say there were those who pledged to follow Jesus…but. “I will follow you…but let me bury my father.” “I will follow you…but let me say goodbye to the people in my house. Jesus wasn’t interested in those who would not drop what they were doing and immediately go with Him. He wants us to be “full on” followers. But we can’t do it with commitment alone.

If we aren’t fully vested in following Jesus, committing ourselves to more faith won’t work. The strongest place to meet Jesus is in surrender. Fully surrendering acknowledges the NEED. It acknowledges the COST to us. And, it seeks a true relationship.

I loved the visual at the end of the message. Pastor Pace had us stand up and raise our hands if we wanted to truly surrender and step into a relationship like never before. He had us move back in our rows as far as we could. And on the count of three, take a step forward. All of us…hands raised…took that step forward. Moments like that…that statement of faith…are so beautiful and touching. It was lovely to see all across the church…everyone doing the same thing. And to feel equally yoked with a partner who shares my faith makes me feel stronger and more grounded. That…relationship. That…give and take. Having each other’s back. It feels so good. ❤