Walk The Line

Where is the line? I spoke of it on Sunday; that line in you that you and I draw to simply say, “Jesus this is where you stop.” That line that says, “God you end here and this is where I begin!” You say; “What line?” Don’t be foolish, we all have it.

For some it is easy to spot in their loose living and indulgence of the worldly pleasures that offer them temporary satisfaction for the eternal desires that burn within their hearts. For others it’s a little harder to see. It’s covered up by good Christian living, by that weekly service at your local church. It’s hidden beneath the title “Believer” but nonetheless it still exists. I personally think it exists just because we are here and God is in heaven.

So, what is your line? Let me ask you a few questions to see. What if I told you that following Christ…:

--meant giving up your entire 401K, your personal savings and your children’s savings, would you follow?

--meant you switch jobs to a company that could not pay you, and in turn you would pay the company over $150,000 to work there, would you follow? (Additionally you would have to work a second job to keep the roof over your head.)

--meant your child would be born with a defect that could hamper the rest of their life and you had to care for that child without insurance, would you follow?

--meant you lost close relationships with family members and friends (people you like and love), would you follow?

--meant your spouse would be constantly stressed and concerned each day about where the next dollar for food or clothes would come from, would you follow?

--meant on your best day at work would be followed by your worst day when someone who was there to help you stabbed you in the back and blamed you for it, would you follow?

--meant you stopped watching your favorite TV show due to its content, would you follow? (or just stop for a few weeks?)

--meant people would genuinely hate you, would you follow?

--meant you would encounter the devil 3 times and on two occasions you would almost lose your life, would you follow?

--meant that those that work with you would try to kill you, lie about you, demean you, rarely say thank you and take your family time, what little money you have and then ask for more, would you follow?

--meant you just simply followed him and died with no glitz or glamour and nobody knew what you did, would you follow?

So would you do it? Would you quit your job, would you risk being arrested, jailed and living the rest or your life with a criminal background? Would you be willing to be forced out of your home, live in the streets? Would you be willing to suffer physical harm to your body, lose your kids or your husband or wife?

See I told you the line exists, if you’re honest and don’t just give the blanket response “YES” to the question “Follow me?”, you have found your line. That place where you are unwilling to go with Christ.

Now, don’t worry that you have found it; it’s actually a good thing. See in order to live life to the fullest with God you must first find this line and address it with honesty before God. Your human and many of the things I aforementioned take supernatural strength to overcome. But make no mistake, until you find and address the line you risk being a fan. Once you address it, you continue to follow. I love what one follower of Christ once said…To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to him."—Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” – Luke 14:27