“I Have Decided To Follow Jesus, No Turning Back…!”

“I Have Decided To Follow Jesus, No Turning Back…!”
The decision to follow Christ is always personal; even though it may be influnced by others. True discipleship is when you have had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. Such an encounter is unexplainable and perhaps indescribable.
Discipleship is not just by becoming Christian. Jesus is interested in, and knows the motives. If the motive is self-interest, Jesus alerts you to reconsideration: “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” If your desire to follow Jesus Christ is your quest for breakthrough in finances and other material benefits, know that he didn’t come for that purpose. Remember, he wasn’t born in a place you could call home. He was an itinerant preacher moving from place to place with no mega-church and when he died he was placed in a stranger’s tomb. So if Jesus sees your motive to be comfort, he warns you beforehand.
When Jesus identifies you, he tells you, “Follow me.” When Jesus calls, he is not expecting you at your own timing and convenience. You cannot wait till you have given your father a decent burial before coming to Jesus. You are not God to know how long your father would still live.
Discipleship is urgency in responding to the call of Christ and severing ties with family and relatives. It is an issue of, “Man for yi self!” It is not about taking time to go and bid farewell to family! “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God”(Lk.9:57-62).
Following Jesus Christ entails enduring all the difficult teachings, obeying them and accepting all the hurdles and insults from mockers. But it is above all as the Father has enabled you. Because when the expected comfort is not found many eager disciples turn back and no longer follow Jesus Christ(Cf.Jn.6:65-66).
My dear friend, true discipleship is when you have come to that moment of realisation and like Paul you know and say, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus”(Phi.3:13).
Yes, it is a journey and you must keep treading until you arrive the destination. What is important is that you must forget the past, knowing that the best awaits you at the port of arrival!
Prayer: Holy Spirit guide me daily to follow the Lord Jesus Christ unconditionally as I bury my past in the past. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!