I was reading an ancient book written by Jesus’ brother James. Side note: Can you imagine the dynamics in that brother rivalry? Anyway, James got over it and finally came around to see Jesus for who He is/was – and James became a follower a real follower of the God/Man Jesus.
What caught me in what James wrote was a phrase “…it is a message to obey not just listen to” from the book of James in the Bible chapter 1 verse 22. Here are a few thoughts that caught me
“Obey” means “A journey to make something a lifestyle.” Usually “obey” has some shame based stuff associated with it, like in obey the law, your parents, your boss. James is not coming from that perspective. He is coming from the place of “Oh wow! This Jesus really has a better way of living and for those who propose to follow Jesus way – to make it a lifestyle rather than a religious gig.
It’s like I have a friend who has three bins for trash. Green for newspaper. Blue for garbage. Yellow for cans/plastic. But he never uses them! Everything goes in to the blue bin. I asked him about it one day and he said “Oh, I really like the idea of recycling, but practically, I have no intention of doing it.”
Same with following Jesus.
Pursue Jesus as a lifestyle…it is not just a message to listen to…
So what does that mean to me?
It means I have a lot of learning to do. And a lot of unlearning. What does the journey of really following Jesus look like for me?
- Spend time with God by talking to God and listening to Him. Whisper is a book that explains how to talk and listen. A very good read.
- Spend time loving people. Jesus was all about love. What does this look like on a daily basis? For starters it means practicing patience and kindness especially with those who drive you crazy!!!
- Spend time slowing down. Can you imagine Jesus with an iPhone? No. Unplug. Simplify. Do less to be more.
My prayer for you and me is that we would engage the journey, truly follow Jesus, and pursue a lifestyle modeled by Jesus the most amazing person ever!