What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
The first step to following Jesus is to seek Him.
I have a terrible habit of losing my car keys. I wish I could tell you it is a result of getting older, but I've lost my keys since I was fourteen years old, holding a shiny new restricted license. I've lost them in convenience stores, movie theaters, grocery stores, or (my personal favorite) locking them inside of the car. At least the car I own now won't allow me to do that anymore.
When I was a teenager, my father would have to pick me up in random places after I lost my keys. He always kept a spare, knowing I had a brain block when it came to finding my keys.
"Don't you pay attention to where you put them?" he would ask me with an exasperated sigh.
I can assure you I didn't.
Even now, if I don't make a specific effort to remember where I put my keys, I will lose them. I have to put them in the same place every time. If I don't, I will have a very bad morning the next day, usually when I'm already running late.
As a redhead, when I lose things I get mad. It isn't my fault, its the hair color the Lord gave me. But, my kids can attest I'm no fun when searching for my long, lost keys. As a coping mechanism, my daughter seems to have developed a superpower of sniffing out keys. I have no idea how she does it. I will lose my keys, and she will promptly walk into my office, fish under a stack of papers and walk out with my keys.
It really is incredible. I need to enter her into some sort of talent contest.
But, I digress.
My point here is that when I'm seeking my keys, I'm not seeking anything else. I'm not looking for my glasses (yes, I lose those too), a piece of chocolate (maybe later), or the TV remote. I need my keys, and nothing is going to distract me until I find my keys.
We need to really, truly seek Jesus. Spending time in the Bible will allow us to learn who Jesus is. Prayer is our avenue to being known by God. Seeking God also helps us to understand who we are, and what our purpose is. God doesn't hide Himself from us, and if we seek Him, we will find Him.
Seeking Jesus is a daily choice, and its not always easy. I know I certainly have my days where I don't feel like seeking Jesus. I'd rather attend my own pity party (alone), fall back into the pit of anger and unforgiveness, and isolate. But, when I seek Jesus I'm less dependent upon my emotions. My eyes are on Him, instead of continually worrying about what's going to happen to me. I personally think the devil's agenda is doomed when we become less dependent upon emotions, stop thinking about ourselves, and seek Jesus regardless of how we feel. Some days I'm successful, but if I'm honest, some days I'm not.
One of the biggest reasons we quit seeking Jesus is because the devil likes to shame us for our inconsistency. The devil loves to tell us our victories mean nothing if we don't experience the same victories every day. That's not true. Our inconsistencies don't invalidate our victories. Perfection has never been a requirement for following Jesus. In fact, our inconsistencies can call us to His faithfulness. Our faithfulness doesn't save us. A perfectly consistent Christian life doesn't get us into heaven. God's mercy is what saves us, and when we follow Jesus, our confidence can rest in His consistency. Thank goodness for that!
We should never stop seeking Jesus because we've experienced a setback or a failure. God wants us to receive His love every day. If perfection were a requirement, no one would be called to follow Jesus. But, Jesus confronts our inconsistencies and insecurities with his incomparable mercy.
Follow me, He invites us. Its time for you to be freed of these shackles that you've carried around for many years, I have good plans for you.
That's an invitation worth accepting.
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