 |
| Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom live their lives with an intentionality that defies normal earthly expectations. |
The passage referenced in this point is the setup scenario for the Sermon on the Mount. Let's read it for clarification:
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.There are several things we must realize about this truth. Jesus came to bring a kingdom of change. Repentance is about a complete change of direction. It isn't about adding something new to our existing schedules like an exercise regimen. It isn't about moving to a new home or trading up like we would for a new car. It is about abandoning one thing altogether for something completely different. It is a change of lifestyle. And it is a lifestyle of repentance, realizing that in order to deal with what we do wrong (sin) we must turn to what is right. I believe that the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' Intentional Kingdom, is showing us the new lifestyle, the "right" thing we must turn to everyday. And that is why we are asked to repent.
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
Citizens of Jesus’ Kingdom live their lives with an intentionality that defies normal earthly expectations. We purpose in our hearts and then practice in our lives the call of a disciple. It is what we REPENT TO. Just as Jesus literally asked Simon, Andrew, James, and John to leave their nets and boats to be His disciples, so He calls us to intentionally turn from our preoccupations to follow Him. Discipleship is repentance. Repentance is turning to follow Jesus. That is why the call of these disciples follows the call to repent. You don't just regret sin, you turn to a Savior! And those first disciples would find out what they turned to follow when Jesus boldly unfolded His Intentional Kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. Those who can truly accept the Intentional Kingdom are repentant followers of Jesus.
These week we should consider what this means. It is the same call to all of us, but each of us may find its practice uniquely personal. Precisely because repentance is an intentional act of reversal, some of us will change from different directions or locations. But we will all turn to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is a choice to leave one way of life and follow Jesus for another.
So here are some questions for discussion in the comments of this post: 1. What are the types of things we must turn from in our day and age? 2. Jesus asked His disciples to give up fishing businesses to follow Him, what is He asking of us?
3. What is He asking of you?
4. Where is that hard to apply?
5. More importantly, what are the rewards of doing this?
I believe that He is asking me to get rid of the flesh. When I run into a problem, I fret about it, or stew about it, or converse with someone about the unfairness of life, then I remember to pray about it and that's usually when I realize that the problem is me. George Mueller said it like this:
ReplyDelete“I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.”
Excerpt From: Müller, George. “Answers to Prayer / From George Müller's Narratives.” iBooks.