Letting Jesus Give Us The Right Answer

On numerous occasions in the 4 gospel accounts, we read about Jesus meeting a person, being moved with love for that person, and then calling that person to follow him. Sometimes, he props up his invitation with an enticing metaphor that could suggest folks might want to follow him the way lost sheep follow their good shepherd. Or the way thirsty people might go after the kind of water that saves lives. Other times, Jesus packages his invitation with tough love that could suggest that folks might want to follow him by taking up a cross or laying down their lives or drinking from his cup of sorrow. 

Some people may very well count the cost of following Jesus and they decide it's over their budget. Others count the cost of not following Jesus and decide that following him is the only way to live.

Learning to follow Jesus begins with the discovery that life just doesn't make

sense any other way. Another idea is to see following Christ not only as the necessity it is, but also as the fulfillment of the highest human possibilities and as life on the highest plane. To whom else would we go? Only Jesus can give us abundant life.

If you made the decision to follow Jesus in the past, it’s safe to say that to know Jesus is to love him and one of the best ways to get to know Jesus is by keeping company with him in the gospels. You'll find over time that you develop more and more of a sense for the way Jesus thinks and acts and relates.

In the teachings of Jesus we see how he connects loving him with loving others, and especially with loving the poor and the marginalized. In seasons when you are finding it hard to sense Jesus’ presence, visit someone who is in need, you may be surprised to

discover that you encounter his manifest presence most readily there. But even if a felt

perception of his presence eludes you, you will know that you are keeping him

company with the least of these.Let's spend a few minutes keeping Jesus company in John, chapter 13. The disciples are reclining around the dinner table in the upper room. Jesus starts talking about having to go away and the Apostle Peter becomes alarmed and asks, "Lord, where are you going?" And Jesus replies, "Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will

follow later." Peter asks, "Lord, why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for

you." And then Jesus answers, "Will you really lay down your life for me?" Imagine that

today for yourself — Jesus lets you lean against him a bit, the way the apostle John describes himself doing, and he says to you, very quietly, but intently, "Will you lay down your life for me?" How will you answer? And what does he even mean?

If you're like me, the first thing that springs into your mind is that Jesus is extending an

invitation to literal martyrdom. There is certainly a long and painfully beautiful list of

Christ followers who sacrifice their physical lives for their faith. But interestingly, the

Greek word used for life in this particular passage is not the word for bodily life,

but the word used to describe the inner life of a human being. So Jesus is asking will you lay down your inner orientations and agendas for mine? 

He's not talking about the total obliteration of self here. He's talking about recalibration, about reorientation, and about a willingness to organize your life around a new center. He's asking if you will allow him to slowly change you at whatever pace you can stand, from a curved in focus on yourself to a new posture of self-giving, open-armed love.

This might actually be harder than a heroic martyrdom. Oswald Chambers once said, "It

is much easier to die than to lay down your life day in and day out with the sense of the

high calling of God." And yet, as hard as it may be, the folks who follow Jesus in this

way are some of the most radiant people you will ever meet. They've been unfurled into

the selves they were always created to be. They've discovered that Jesus' invitation to

lay down your curved in life is really part and parcel of his desire to give you abundant

life. We learn to lay down our lives as we learn to follow Jesus.

Much like letting the original author speak for herself, we derive an unbridled joy when we let Jesus tell us what he meant. We get it from the horse’s mouth. It is indeed a costly endeavor, but it’s also the most beautiful road you could ever take.