Wholly Follow...
Have you ever wondered what it really means to "wholly" follow the Lord? I mean with everything that is within us; we follow Jesus. That is something I do believe we speak of not and fear much. What will that bring to our lives? What kinds of inevitable change will that call me to? What will happen to my life, my rep, my comfort, my safety? Oh, how different our lives would look if we directed our sole attention to wholly following Jesus in our lives. Instead of pondering and puruing our life's best, what if we pursued Christ's best? What if our goal was to make known the riches of God, and not make known our own artifitial worth?
In Joshua chapter 14 we see the division of the promised land. 40 years earlier (Numbers 13) we remember that Caleb along with others scouted out the promised land and in spite of so much negativity and discouragement to inherit the land due to "giants" that the nation could never conquer; Caleb insisted they go at once to occupy that land and overcome it. The Scripture then says three times in Joshua 14 that Caleb "wholly followed the Lord His God." Because Caleb wholly followed the Lord, he inherited the land of Hebron as his own. Caleb followed God when his comrads would not. Caleb followed the Lord in the sea of giants. What does it means to "wholly follow" the Lord?
God wants our very best. He never accepts our leftovers, or our scraps. He is not interested in our obedience on our terms (which is really no obedience at all), He wants all or nothing! How different would our lives be if we wholly followed Christ no matter the cost, no matter the commitment, no matter the outcome? Is Christ worth it or not?
posted by Jim @ 9:24 PM
1 Comments
1 Comments:
I guess I will be the first to comment on this one...the question of how to "wholly follow Christ" is one of much depth, so I don't come with concrete answers by any means...& this is a question that I will continue to work over in my mind & heart. SO...about what it means to wholly follow Christ...one of the most prevelant things on my heart is the idea of having an enduring patience in wholly following. There are so many circumstances in life where we just have to WAIT...or we don't know exactly where God is leading us or trying to teach us. But if we can hang on, have this enduring patience to wait on Him, we will eventually see what He is leading us to, what He is leading us to become. The hope is that one would be "wholly following Him" so closely to see what they are being patient for, that they couldn't help but become closer to Him, more like Him. So yeah, having an enduring patience. The other thing I was thinking about is in order to wholly follow God, I need to give up my agenda, any control I think I might have on my life, any rights I feel I am entitled to...I mean, that is the essence of "wholly"--I can't just give God part or some of my life...it needs to be all of it, or none. So Christ gave His ALL on the Cross for me...He left His agenda, His control, His rights up to His Father...and He is GOD...how much more should I?! I read in my Bible study this morning..."But to be crucified with Christ (Gal. 2:20) means that you volunteer to forego all your personal rights except one: your right as a believer to be filled & led by the Spirit of Christ & Who dwells within you." To wholly follow Christ is to be wholly filled with the Holy Spirit & its guiding & teaching. Boy, do I have a lot to learn! I love the song by David Crowder band, Wholly Yours...so, if you haven't heard it or really listened to the words...you need to. So yeah...
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