A Walk with Jesus

I’m studying the Epistles of John. I love these books, and I particularly love the commentary I’m reading on them. Sometimes, it takes a while for me to put together what God is trying to say – but in His patience, he will move me through the process until eventually all of the pieces fall together.

My heart has been heavy for several months. For many Christians the burden of God is lost souls, which I agree is an important part of every Christians walk – it was part of the great commission.

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – Matthew 28:18-19

But the burden he’s laid on my heart is the next verse:

And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. – Matthew 28:20a  

Jesus taught that the road that leads to life is narrow (Matthew 7:13). He spoke about how it would be easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:24). 1 John 1:6 says, “If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” And in 1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”

So what am I trying to say? True, heart salvation is between you and God; I can’t see your heart and won’t know what side you stood on until we get to Heaven. But the Bible says over and over in scripture, I should know my brothers and sisters by the fruit they produce, by their daily walk, and by the truth they proclaim.

The more I study, the more I understand the narrow path. The more I realize that this walk with Christ is not meant to be easy, and it’s not a free pass to walk in the world and claim Jesus is Savior. A saving relationship with Christ should change your behavior in dramatic ways. The things of this world become less appealing, which changes your behavior. Changed behavior produces fruit. Fruit is the believer’s assurance on earth that someone is a brother or sister in Christ.

I’m moving into a place where I don’t care what the world thinks about me…I care what Jesus thinks about me. Is it uncomfortable? Yes. Is it lonely sometimes? Yes. But it’s the most important thing in my life. The world shouldn’t understand my life, but they should be curious about it…because on the back end of a walk with Christ that is fruitful is unshakable joy.

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. – 1 John 1:4

By our union and communion with Christ, we have joy in every circumstance. In John 15:11, Jesus says “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”  There is sacrifice in a walk with God that honors him – but nothing near what Christ sacrificed for you on the cross. He went, even unto death, to spare you the consequence of a sinful world – but how often do we fight releasing the things of this world because we don’t want to let it go? Even with the promise of complete and full joy in a life with Christ Jesus.

I encourage you…no, I challenge you to evaluate your walk. Are you basing your day to day decisions on what the world thinks of you, or on what Christ thinks of you?

Are you in the Word enough to even know what His expectations are?