Vagabonds

Perhaps God has been preparing me to read this very chapter for a few weeks now. Last week on my anniversary I posted about going to see “The Rock and the Rabbi” (which you should see if ever given the opportunity)…in any event, at the very end of the show, Peter makes some profound statements about how he always thought it was him waiting for the Rabbi to come…when in fact, the Rabbi was waiting on Peter…to follow and serve.

At the very end he reminds us that Jesus said the same thing to him that he has said or WILL say to us when we encounter Him and that is… “Follow me.”

This past weekend at a small group I attend, we were watching a video of John Bevere, from his book “The Bait of Satan”, and the content was about being a vagabond and what does that mean and look like.

Now this morning I read this chapter and again I am reminded and prompted to evaluate if I am an admirer of Christ or a follower. I want to believe I’m a follower, but I still attempt to drag all my ‘luggage’ along for the ride…obviously it’s counterproductive and absolutely contraindicative to what Jesus asks of me. Add to that…I’m not sure I’ve ever REALLY seen a follower of Christ, in that sense.

Is it enough to just ‘read the Bible and pray?’ Is it enough to KNOW Scripture and spout it out? Is it enough to have an ‘accountability buddy’? I would have to say “NO!” I picture Jesus shocking the Pharisees with his ‘seeming’ blasphemous words that went against the ‘memory verses’ and law they used in judgment every day.

Ultimately I believe Jesus comes to us each individually, exactly where He meets us and asks us to follow Him completely. For the rich man it meant giving up everything (material) and he couldn’t do it. For Peter it meant a different kind of fishing. For tax collectors it meant ‘righting’ what they had wrongly collected. For the Pharisees it meant releasing their constricting views of Scripture and Sabbath.

In some sense it reminds me of that completely goofy show; “My Name is Earl.” Who is going around trying to ‘right’ what he has wronged in his life. Yes the motivation is a bit skewed, but similar principle of complete 180.

I love what it says in James 2:19 “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” It reminds me that believing in God isn’t enough. If I don’t ACT on what I believe, then it’s just another fact among many clogging the portals of my brain.

To me being a ‘follower of Jesus’ means many things; the most important of which is to allow room in my heart and mind for God to grow outside the confines of my current Scriptural understanding (or misunderstanding), my prayer life (and limitations), my self-imposed uncertainty to be used as a vessel and servant everyday in every circumstance and to maintain a teachable spirit.

Good chapter!