believing or following

There is a difference between believing in Jesus, & following Him.

I've heard it said it like the difference between dating someone, & marrying them.

Iow, following means a total, lifelong commitment.

So many of us want Jesus to be a part of our life,

     when allowing Him to change us to radically that we begin to look & act like Him is really what He's after.


Here's something of what Jesus had to say about all this...



Luke 14
25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them,

26 "If you want to be my disciple, you must hate everyone else by comparison—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life.

     Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple.

27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.



  28 "But don't begin until you count the cost.

For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it?

     29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.


     30 They would say, 'There's the person who started that building and couldn't afford to finish it!'



  31 "Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him?

32 And if he can't, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away.


33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.



I don't know who this is for, but if it's you, all I can say is if you're weighing believing or following Jesus, follow Him.