Lie #9: Following Jesus is Just Too Hard
Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence … for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Have you ever felt as though following Jesus is just too hard? That it’s more trouble than it’s worth? Of course you have. So have I. Following Jesus is hard. It absolutely is!
Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
Funny thing, but whenever you hear that passage read out in a church service, it’s never followed by acclamations of “Hallelujah!” and “Amen!”, is it?
Jesus said lots of difficult, unpalatable things. I wonder what today’s spin doctors would want to do with something like:
If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)
And to tell you the truth, some days following Jesus is just so hard. That’s exactly what Jesus promised it would be.
So the devil comes along and whispers in our ears … it’s just too hard. You can never match up. You can’t do it. Give up. Follow me. The road is easy.
Anyone who’s ever followed Jesus through the tough, dark, lonely places of life has heard that call. But the thing the devil somehow forgets to tell us is that God has a plan.
Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence … for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:12)
God’s plan is for His Spirit to change our hearts. The plan is that as we draw closer to Him, He gets to work in our hearts so that we end up wanting what God wants. And when we want what He wants, we end up doing what He wants. He enables us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
The work always follows the will. Working at becoming a better Christian, isn’t it? It doesn’t matter how hard you and I try to follow Jesus, it will always be too hard.
But when we draw closer to Him, as we pray, as we let His Word into our hearts, He does the work by changing our will. And so then, even though it is hard to follow Jesus… somehow it’s easy.
So stop working so hard – it’s never going to work. Draw close to Jesus instead and let Him do the heavy lifting.
That’s God’s Word. Fresh … for you … today.
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