I know. I was gone a long time. I’m back. Let’s not waste time with talk and get right into it. As a disclaimer, this opinions are my own and not of any church or group. Just me and my bible.
I love reading The Bible. I enjoy the events and tales that weave through it. I’ve been spotty on that in the past, but that changes today. Today I turned to John for something of substance and found exactly what I was looking for in the words. Check out the verse below:
Many Disciples Desert Jesus
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[a] and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.”
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
From biblegateway, NIV version.
The sentence in this verse that I love and also despise because it hits hard at home in my heart is the, “This is hard teaching.” The reality of Christianity is that it’s never easy, never simple and never something you should choose simply because it’s “the thing to do”. I learned that long ago when after nearly thirteen years of following Christ the reality of the challenge of accepting him into my heart became clear. I was in middle school. These are of course the worst years for anyone. Surviving that is a experience unto itself!
I found God to be something very different from the God that I knew as a child. Perhaps I wasn’t taught about discipleship enough. Maybe it was the lack of honesty from my Sunday School teachers in elementary school. Whatever it was, I had a awakening. I didn’t run away from the church after this mind you. I rededicated my life to following Him and pursuing the God way of life.
As I’ve grown I’ve probably muttered the, “This is hard!” statement a few more times than I’d care to admit. Hitting walls, finding out my true self and discovering that indeed I am not perfect and will never be so has been some of the humbling experiences. Here Jesus probably threw up his hands and said, “What will it take for you to believe? Need me to move the sun around? Turn you into a newt? Honestly you guys…come on!”
It was at this point that the followers, the hangers on and the fake entourage was faced with The Real World of Christ and what it meant for them. They didn’t wish to follow because it was hard. Too tough they’d say. I imagine there were probably some complaints about feet hurting somewhere in there.
We don’t follow God because it’s easy, simple or cookie cutter. We should follow him because we choose to accept the life that we will live with Him. Over my volunteer years in Children’s ministry I’ve never once forced the beliefs of God on a child. I’ve always left it up to them and their parents. I’ve spoken honestly about what the relationship with God means. I’ve never said, “Easy street, here we come!” If you know your commandments, lying is one of the ten.
So many walk away because it’s hard. So many walk away because they were never told the truth about a relationship with God. Others become disenchanted with Christ because of his followers. There are so many reasons they walk away that sometimes I wonder if anyone ever told them the reasons to stay with God and work through it.
In this case, so many walked away without really knowing what was out there for them. They simply gave up because Jesus challenged them. Pushed them. Made them want to be better men of this world.
In the end it’s a choice. Those that walked away choose poorly. Those that stayed witnessed the most amazing events that would never be duplicated.
Will you stay or will you go?
I’m gonna stay. Will you join me?
Discussion
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