A passage of Scripture that has been on my heart and in my mind lately is Matthew 13:44.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
This passage tells me discipleship is an all-or-nothing issue. It is difficult but 100% worth it.
I am still wrestling through what it means to “give up everything.” However, I’m afraid the real heart of the issue is I am not so much wrestling “through” as I am wrestling “with.” I am resisting and pushing back against any idea to radically overhaul my life, and I’ve been using this idea of “processing” as my vehicle to procrastinate.
I fear that I have grown too accustomed to comforts and ease, trivialities and entertainment. If Christ knocked on my door and told me to do something radical for Him, it would be hard not to obey a “standing-right-in-front-of-me-and-in-my-face” Jesus… at least for a while. But the Spirit speaking softly to my heart is too easy to ignore and too often drowned out by all the other voices.
But if my brother in Christ shares with me where he is at in this process of following Christ, the Holy Spirit who is speaking softly to him, speaks to me through him, and suddenly the Spirit’s voice is amplified to me and I am encouraged and strengthened in my resolve.
Christ might not knock on my door anytime soon, but you can be Christ for me and I can be Christ for you and we can pursue Christ’s call to discipleship together.