Living for Christ: Completely

Living for Christ.... completely.

What does that even mean? It means with utter abandon, with surrender. Doesn't that kind of love sound beautiful? Doesn't living for Christ in that way sound almost perfect?

A lot of the time we try to follow Jesus... but with a lot of baggage. What we're called to do is to lay that all at Jesus' feet and follow Him completely.

In the Bible it tells of Jesus walking along and He calls out to two brothers, Simon (also called Peter) and Andrew, He says to them to follow Him and He will make them fish for people. The Bible says that immediately they left their nets and followed Him. They left everything to follow Jesus. (You can read the story here).

There's another story in the Bible where this rich young ruler comes to Jesus. He asks Jesus how he can inherit eternal life. Jesus says that he knows the commands. The young man says that he's kept all these things from his youth. Jesus says this, "You lack one thing: Go, sell all you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me." (Mark 10:21). And what does the young man do? Sell everything and follow Jesus? Drop everything like the men in the previous story and follow Him? No, instead he's stunned by what Jesus said and went away grieved because he owned many things.  (You can read the story here).

Those are two stories, two examples of men called to leave everything and follow Jesus. In the first story they do, in the second then the young man isn't willing to give it all. Which one are you?

Sometimes it's easy to get so focused on earthly things that we lose sight of what's above.

2 Corinthians 4:18, "So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 

Examine your own life... has something taken priority over God? If something has then drop it. Or if it's something like reading then just moderate how much time you spend doing it. But don't be blind to it because your relationship with God can suffer, others around you can be effected as well.


God loves us completely. He hasn't held anything back from us, not even His own Son. How can we hold back ourselves?

I wrote this a few weeks ago:

"How can I not give all of me?
When You're the One who set me free?
A life without You is a life unlived."

~~~

Is there anything in your life holding you back from following God completely? What has God called you to surrender? What has God taught you about surrender? Out of the two examples of the men called to give up everything for Jesus and follow Him which are you? Is there a priority in your life over God? Do you live for Christ completely? Any thoughts on this subject?