Good morning everyone! Here's a few things that spoke to me from this chapter.
Going All In
Sounds familiar? It should. We talked about that when we studied about the "Cost of Discipleship" a few weeks ago. v11 and v28 carry the same message. "So they pulled their boats up to shore, left everything and followed him." (v11) and "and Levi got up, left everything and followed him." (v28). The disciples made an intentional decision to put their complete trust in Jesus. In the case of Peter, it was after acknowledging that whatever he did, Jesus could do better.
Miracles
There's two more miracles that happen in this Chapter, the healing of leprosy (v12-14) and healing of paralytic (v17-26). Now, we know that Jesus performed miracles (i.e. supernatural) and that he is bigger than our circumstances. But how many of us have conviction that at touch of his hand or just by speaking he CAN perform the impossible NOW?
That leads me into my two questions:
1) We all have things that need to be surrendered in trying to be His disciples. What are some things that you're working on surrendering in order to follow Him? This is similar to Chapter 3 when we touched on repentance and action.
2) Where in some areas of our lives are we "sick" and need to ask for the power of Jesus to heal? I'm convicted we would see a few "Get up, take your mat and go home" moments if we're straight up before God about our current condition.
And to share a bit, my ongoing struggle is discipline in eating healthy and spending money on food, especially under stress. For me, it's a sickness that needs God's power to work. I encourage other sharing as well.
Have a blessed day!
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2 comments:
Taken this from “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He is referencing Mark 2:14, which is essentially Luke 5:27-28.
It is Jesus who calls, and because it is Jesus, Levi follows at once. This encounter is a testimony to the absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus. There is no need of any preliminaries, and no other consequence but obedience to the call. Because Jesus is the Christ, he has the authority to call and to demand obedience to his word. Jesus summon men to follow him not as a teacher or a pattern of the good life, but as the Christ, the Son of God. In this short text Jesus Christ and his claim are proclaimed to men. Not a word of praise is given to the disciple for his decision for Christ. We are not expected to contemplate the disciple, but only him who calls, and his absolute authority. According to our text, there is no road to faith or discipleship, no other road – only obedience to the call of Jesus.
At the instance of the calling, a decision is made on the spot. The old life is thrown away. I like how Dietrich put it. The disciples did what they do not solely Jesus is a teacher (which he is) or the rewards that Jesus promises (which he did). But rather, it is simply as the calling from Jesus. And that’s how Luke recorded as. Jesus calls, disciples follow.
The chapter, the reference of calling of the disciples (v 11 and v 28) shows the black and white between those who follow Christ and those who don’t. In both cases, following Jesus means leaving a life of security into a life of insecurity (leaving everything behind). They are called to have a new life. A life of faith and only provision from Jesus alone (after all this is who they are following).
These ideas I am still grappling. The truth is that a disciple of Christ will never grapple with these ideas. It is natural to them.
Christ calls. One hears the calling. One leaves everything they have and join Him.
A life of insecurity with Christ is better than a day of security without.
For me the passage speaks to me about sacrifice. And although it's somewhat similar to surrendering in the giving up part, I think sometimes doing devos, church and fellowship out of convenience isn't sacrifice or surrendering to follow Jesus. I'm wondering if I constantly surrendering more and more aspects of my life each day to God (cuz I know I have a long way to go)
I really like the quote cliff: A life of insecurity with Christ is better than a day of security without.
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