Following Jesus Wherever He leads

Reflections for this date are based on the following scripture passages:
Mark 10	Mark 11	Mark 12	Exodus 1	Exodus 2	Psalms 22	Proverbs 8

Mark chapter 10 gives an account of a rich young man who came to Jesus with the question, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus questioned him about the law and the young man confirmed that he had kept the law since he was a youth. We should note that the young man realized something was lacking though he wasn't sure what. Jesus, of course, knew what he lacked. His trust was in his wealth rather than in God. When Jesus told him the thing he lacked was to give away his wealth, he wasn't telling him he could buy eternal life or that he must become poor. He was pointing out instead where the man's trust was placed. His unwillingness to give up his wealth made this clear.

After the young man went away, a conversation broke out between Jesus and His disciples concerning the kingdom of God and of the man's unwillingness to turn loose of his wealth. Evidently contrasting himself to the rich young man, Peter pointed out to Jesus that the disciples had left everything to follow Jesus. Jesus assured him that they had not done this in vain. In telling Peter this, Jesus pointed out that wealth is not the only hindrance to following Jesus. Family can also be a hindrance as can fear of persecution and the difficulties that may arise in following Him. But we do not turn loose of our grasp and dependence on anything to follow Jesus that is not returned to us many times over. Jesus assured Peter that whatever we may turn loose of to follow Him - house, family members, or fields - it will be returned to us 100 times more. We don't have to wait for the age to come to receive this return. We can have it now. But in addition we also have eternal life in the age to come.

We read this and the questions start coming. "Does this mean that if we give up possessions we will get back even more?" Or, we ask, "what does it mean that if we leave behind family members we will receive back 100 times more?" Many more questions could be asked. The response to these questions, however, is that these returns are more spiritual and emotional than physical. Do we leave behind house? Our needs for shelter will be met in abundance. Do we leave behind bonds that tie us to family members? These bonds will be replaced many times over with spiritual bonds to many others. And then come the objections, "But I don't want to give up my material goods or my family bonds, etc." With our objections we find ourselves in the same place as this rich young man - sorrowfully walking away from Jesus because these things are more important to us than to follow Him.

Is this about actually giving up these things? Is this what Jesus requires of us? First and foremost it is about turning loose of our dependence on anything that keeps us from follow Jesus. If we have any doubt about how dependent we are on anything else we need only to think about giving them up to learn how dependent we are. Like the smoker who says, "I can quit anytime I want," until he actually tries to quit. Then his dependence becomes apparent.

Following Jesus means following wherever He leads, not just where we want to follow.