SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/13/2021 11:15 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-3 “The Barrier of Personal Richness”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Matthew 8:21
Message of the
verse: “21
Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and
bury my father.’”
Before I continue looking at the man
from Luke’s gospel I want to talk for a moment on about the word “disciple” as
I did talk about it in an earlier SD, but after listening to a sermon from John
MacArthur on the next several verses in Matthew chapter eight he elaborated on
the word a bit more than what I wrote about.
He did give the same definition that I gave about what that word
means. I think that in our day and age
we tend to lift people up who were disciples of Jesus, but when it comes down
to it remember that Judas was a disciple of Jesus, for he followed Jesus for
three years and sat under His teaching.
I believe that technically when you sit under the teaching of your
pastor that he is a disciple of yours. I
know that may sound strange but that is what the meaning of the word is.
Back to the man from Luke’s account: “61 Another also said, "I will follow
You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home’” (Luke 9:61). This man was still tied to his parents apron
strings and was under their dominance and control. So the decision to follow Jesus Christ is the
most uniquely personal decision that can be made. MacArthur writes “It is wonderful when
friends and relatives encourage someone to decide for Christ, and it is tragic
when they advise against Christ. But
whatever the outside influences may be, the commitment is the individual’s alone
to make. Jesus therefore replied, ‘No one,
after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of
God’ (v. 62). These words were perhaps
adapted from a proverb attributed to the famous Greek poet Hesiod, who lived
around 800 B.C.—‘You can’t plow a straight furrow when looking backward.’ A person cannot satisfactorily do the job at
hand if he is continually looking back to his past work and loyalties. A person cannot follow Jesus Christ if he still longs for the ways
of the old life.”
William MacDonald writes of these three men who went
away: “They left Christ to make a
comfortable place for themselves in the world and to spend the rest of their
lives hugging the subordinate.”
A
person who is a believer has to be totally committed to Jesus Christ: “34 “Do not think
that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a
sword. 35 “For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER
MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; 36 and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS
HOUSEHOLD. 37 “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me;
and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 “And he
who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.” So we can learn from these verses that if a
person allows anything to hold him back from full allegiance to Christ, he is
not worthy of the kingdom of God.
MacArthur adds “Jesus is not here talking about Christian service but
about salvation. God will save no one
who comes to Him with strings attached.”
I think this quotation put things into perspective on what Jesus was
talking about here, as it was salvation, and not for those who are believers
who at times are not totally committed to living a life that is totally
pleasing to the Lord. It also shows that
these men were “disciples” of Jesus but not believers in Him for salvation.
The
stories that we see here in both Matthew and Luke’s gospels have happened down
throughout the ages as many people learn about Jesus and perhaps look up to Him
but will not put their trust in Him for salvation, and that has to come first
before one can do things for the cause of Christ. Do not think of Jesus as a good man, a man
who did miracles and had great power, a man who was a martyr, for Jesus Christ
is truly the third person of the Godhead who came to earth to become a man in
order to die for our sins, for my sins and to think of Him in any other way is
to think of Him like the devil thinks of Him, or at least as the devil desires
for you to think of Him, for in reality the devil knows who He is and why He
came to earth the first time.
We
conclude with the closing paragraph from John MacArthur’s commentary on these
verses we have been looking at: “Coming
to Jesus Christ is coming on His terms, not our own. The person who comes to Christ comes in
humility, meekness, a needy beggar in spirit who hungers and thirsts for God’s
righteousness, who cries for mercy, and is willing to be hated, reviled, and
persecuted for the sake of his Lord (Matt. 5:2-12). The Lord may not take away comforts, money,
or relationships with others, but all of those things—and everything else
besides—must be given over to him, to do with as He pleases. Otherwise He is not Lord, no matter how much
allegiance to Him is professed.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: “5 Test
yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you
not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless
indeed you fail the test? 6 But I trust that you will realize that we ourselves
do not fail the test” (2 Cor. 15:5-6).
My Steps of Faith for Today: I have a special prayer request that I will not
mention, but I pray that the Lord will answer this prayer request.
4/13/2021 11:48 AM
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