Christ or Comfort?
Pastor De Leon May 19th, 2009
In Matthew 16:24 we read that Jesus told His disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”
The moment a person receives Christ by faith, they begin a journey of discipleship. The road can filled with trials but believers can rejoice knowing their God is orchestrating every event, every hardship, every struggle for His glory and their good (Rom. 8:28).
Everyday believers are faced with the choice to live for God or to live for self. Christ desires that we believe His Word and trust Him, even though doing so means making sacrifices and living without the “comfort” of being in control (which, of course, we never truly are).
I am reminded of the decision that Johanan, along with the small remnant left in Israel, had to make (Jer. 42-43). Babylon had invaded Jerusalem and taken most of its inhabitants captive. Only a few people were left in the land and they approached the prophet Jeremiah to ask him what God would have them do.
God’s Word was clear and direct: “If ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you. . . Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are afraid; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord: for I am with you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand” (Jer. 32:10a, 11). The Lord also gave the people a warning: they were not to go down to Egypt. If they did so, God would no longer protect them; they could be certain the Babylonians would destroy them.
Unfortunately, the people chose to reject God’s Word and went down to Egypt anyway. They decided it was better to run from certain hardship and possible famine (remember that the city had been destroyed) to Egypt where they believed they would be safe from further invasion. In essence, they chose to live by sight and not by faith in what God had promised them.
Too often, we make the same wrong decision. Rather than trusting God, even in difficult circumstances, we run to places of comfort and safety—and right out of the will of God!
May the Lord help us walk by faith today.