This Is How You Will Know
- Kingdom Kulture
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
Upon my arrival in Germany, I was eager to learn my way around. Being from America, I had no idea how to read the German signs or speak the language. I was forced to rely on landmarks to assure myself and my friends that we were on the right path back home.
One day, my friend Jack took me on a path that led through a forest. As we were walking along the hidden path, I spotted several landmarks that I could use to navigate this path the next time I attempted to walk it alone. There were many paths that branch off of this one but do not lead to the same destination, so it was important for me to remember these landmarks in order for me to stay on course to where I was trying to go.
Similarly, in life there are many paths today that a person can walk. There are almost just as many different religions to choose from. Amongst those several religions are many different types of "Christianity," all offering several different paths that claim to lead to the same destination. However, in a world full of confusion and distress, we must search diligently through the Scriptures and find which clues will assure us we are indeed on the right path that leads to everlasting life.
Fortunately, Jesus being both God and man knew that this would be our reality since the creation of mankind. So He marked out the path and gave us "landmarks" that we could look for to confirm that we are on the path that leads to Him. Before His followers could even attempt to follow Him, He first laid out the requirements of becoming a disciple or as we call it today, a Christian.
18 Now Jesus, when He saw the great throngs around Him, gave orders to cross to the other side [of the lake]. 19 And a scribe came up and said to Him, Master, I will accompany You wherever You go. 20 And Jesus replied to him, Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have lodging places, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. 21 Another of the disciples said to Him, Lord, let me first go and bury [care for till death] my father. 22 But Jesus said to him, Follow Me, and leave the dead [in sin] to bury their own dead. Matthew 8:18-22 AMPC
From the Gospel account of Matthew, we see that before attempting to follow this path, one must first be willing to let go of one's desire for a stable, comfortbale life as well as be willing to prioritize Jesus over the potential death of one's family. According to worldwide statistics, the average time off alotted upon the death of a family member is 3-5 days. Arguably, Jesus being the King of Kings and Savior of the world, definitely has the right to a higher standard for potential fellow neighbors for eternity.
28 Peter started to say to Him, Behold, we have yielded up and abandoned everything [once and for all and joined You as Your disciples, siding with Your party] and accompanied You walking the same road that You walk]. 29 Jesus said, Truly I tell you, there is no one who has given up and left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for My sake and for the Gospel’s 30 Who will not receive a hundred times as much now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life. Mark 10:28-30 AMPC
According to Mark's account of the Gospel and the words of Peter, one had to be willing to leave brothers, sisters, mother or father, or even children behind for the sake of their dedication and commitment to following the path of Jesus. According to statistics today, 3.2% of the world's population (232 million people) are also forced to leave loved ones for potential opportunities in the advancement of their careers. How much more dedicated should followers of God be in the advancement of the Kingdom of Heaven?
26 If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his [own] father and mother in the sense of indifference to or relative disregard for them in comparison with his attitude toward God] and [likewise] his wife and children and brothers and sisters—[yes] and even his own life also—he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not persevere and carry his own cross and come after (follow) Me cannot be My disciple. Luke 14:26-27 AMPC
We see in the Gospel account of Luke that one must be so dedicated to God that it may seem like he has lost all love or care for everyone else, even his own life. We see this proven to be true today in the lives of true followers of God around the world who choose to endure prison and persecution for their love and devotion to God.
According to statistics found online, almost 80% of the world's population are not happy with their jobs. Despite this, each day millions of people wake up and carry on. In Luke, we see that this pursuit of Jesus also requires us to arise each day and carry our own cross. The difference, however, is that no longer living for ourselves but for Jesus brings love, peace and joy.
18 If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you. 20 Remember that I told you, A servant is not greater than his master [is not superior to him]. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word and obeyed My teachings, they will also keep and obey yours. John 15:18-20 AMPC
We see here that John is saying that on top of everything else we have read in the Gospels, we must also understand that choosing this path that leads to Jesus means saying goodbye to validation and human acceptance because the world will hate us, much similar to how Jesus was treated.
This message is much different than the typical Sunday sermon. However, according to the people that lived, ate and slept with Jesus, this is what it was and is like to truly follow Him. Sadly, we have created our own paths in the Western culture that require significantly less commitment and devotion. Although we profess to be deeply devoted, a simple AI search will show that the people of this world show more dedication and commitment to dead gods than we do to The Living One.
We must actually examine the life of our Savior and think deeply about what it means to come after Him. For those who are under persecution and attacks because of the decision that they have made to walk this path, we must learn to rejoice like the apostles knowing that we have been counted as worthy to suffer like our Savior.
41 So they went out from the presence of the council (Sanhedrin), rejoicing that they were being counted worthy [dignified by the indignity] to suffer shame and be exposed to disgrace for [the sake of] His name. 42 Yet [in spite of the threats] they never ceased for a single day, both in the temple area and at home, to teach and to proclaim the good news (Gospel) of Jesus [as] the Christ (the Messiah). Acts 5:41-42 AMPC
No one would enlist in the military and expect it to be full of sunshine and rainbows. Those who have served as soldiers in this world understand that enlisting to serve means signing your life away. Jesus is looking for the same commitment and devotion. Paul also warns Timothy who is on this similar, rocky, hardly walked path to have the mentality of a soldier.
3 Take [with me] your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him. 2 Timothy 2:3-4 AMPC
Men are leaving everything behind to potentially die for kingdoms and goverments of this world. Jesus has established a new kingdom and we must understand that as a citizien of His government, everyone who professes Jesus as Lord has automatically been drafted to fight the good fight of faith.
12 Fight the good fight of the faith; lay hold of the eternal life to which you were summoned and [for which] you confessed the good confession [of faith] before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12 AMPC
Question of the day: Are you living to die or dying to live?
