what we'll have

"You truly are my disciples

     if you keep on obeying me teachings.


And you will know the truth,

     & the truth will set you free."


Jesus speaking in John 8:31b-32



Jesus didn't say...

     you are my disciples if you go as a missionary to deepest darkest Africa,

     or if you dress a certain way,

     or if you affiliate yourself to certain political thinking,

     or if you don't drink, smoke, take illegal drugs, or date someone who does,

     or if you home school your children,

     or if you espouse any of the other claptrap cultural predilections that some Christians attach to be one simple as a indicator of their own personal peccadillo.


He said that obeying Him was what defined whether we are His disciples



And He didn't say...

     we shall have the American Dream, & it will set us free,

     or that we shall be successful in all we do,

     or that we will never have any trouble in our life,

     or that our children will grow up to be a cross between Saint Teresa & Bill Gates,

     or that we'll have everything we want,

     or that we'll never be sick,

     or that life will always be fair,

     or we'll be beautiful, slender, w/ 2% body fat, & speak French,

     or anything else we've assigned to the Christian life that we think is a clear, bell-ringing indicator.


He said we will have the truth.



So much of what we assign to the Christian life is Christian - it's cultural, or something we or our friends & ancestors dreamed up.

The longer I live, the more it seems that follow Jesus boils down to just a few things...

     allowing God to so invade the secret places of my life that He's able to get the old sinful me to die so the real me He created can come out,

     and thereby bringing me to the point where I can love Him, & love His people.


If we seek Him, to know Him, & to be known by Him, all the rest of our lives will come into line with His.