following, not just believing

Luke 9 

23 Then (Jesus) said to the crowd, 

"If any of you wants to be my follower, 

you must put aside your selfish ambition, 

take up your cross daily, 

and follow me.


24 If you try to keep your life for yourself, 

you will lose it. 

But if you give up your life for me, 

you will find true life.


25 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world 

but lose or forfeit your own soul in the process?


26 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, 

the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person 

when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels.



We seem to see & hear a lot of people these days who "believe in God" (whoever it is that God is they've conceptualized).


But there's a ton of difference between believing in someone & following what they teach, who they are, & how the following radically changes what we want, dream about, & live.


It seems we have some believers who haven't allowed Jesus to radically change who & what they are.


That radical change comes in following His lead, not just believing that He exists.


I guess it would be like believing in a coach & how fine a coach he or she is, but not following completely what he or she tells the team to do?


Or maybe coming from my discipline & experience, it would be like believing in a choir director & how fine a choir director he or she is, but not following completely what he or she tells the choir to do when they sing a song together?



These days there also seem to be a lot of people in our corporate psyche who have "gained the whole world" but have obviously "lost their own souls".


And they seem to be obviously & thoroughly & completely unaware of it.


They don't seem to grasp that there's an end game coming.


They only see now - they don't think about or believe that one day their chickens will come home to roost.


Or maybe they don't care?


Or maybe they are just too stupid or far too deceived?



Sometimes I realized I've lived too long & seen too much.


I've seen so many people live lives that only lead to disaster.


And I don't think I'm all that smart or wise - I mean, when you watch so many people go off the cliff, I guess you learn to recognize the signs of destruction.



So, my point in all this?


Don't just believe in God, surrender to Him, allow Him to change & guide our lives - for that's how we connect with the life He dreamed for us.