Monday Musings ... on Thursday?

Wow, is it Thursday already? I guess I am a bit behind this week. Sunday was a good day. I was not feeling good at all, it hit me about 5 or 6 on Saturday evening. Dizzy and a crazy headache with some stomach issues. Went to bed before 8. Made it through the morning with God's help and then crashed for the rest of the day.

Picked back up with the series "Not A Fan" after a Sunday off (see previous post). This was message #3 in the series. The focus was on Jesus' call for us to "come after me" in Luke 9:23. The call for a passionate pursuit of our relationship with Christ. The passionate pursuit of an intimate relationship with Christ. Passionate pursuit of someone we love will lead to do some crazy things, think of some of the crazy things you have done in the past while pursuing someone you love. Do you have any crazy stories of your pursuit of following Jesus? We should have many of them if we are truly followers of his. Things that look crazy to the fans who are not really following.

This type of pursuit means intimacy. Not a casual relationship. Not a weekend only thing, but a day by day, moment by moment, with each breath type of relationship. That is what Jesus was saying when he said "come after me". Count Nikolaus von Zinzendorf described his pursuit of Christ this way, "I have but one passion; it is He, He only."

This means getting carried away. Fans will never get carried away in their pursuit of Christ. Followers will do some crazy things for Christ, fans will always play it safe. We need to be mindful not to confuse familiarity with intimacy. In a continuing relationship familiarity is inescapable, while intimacy on the hand requires you to deliberately seek it and work for it. Familiarity can produce some comfort and ease, Intimacy seeks for deep understanding.

This means going all in. Fans worry that if they go all in for Christ they may miss out on something else. Fans want pleasure with the risk of pain. Fans want to cohabitate with Jesus, but they don't want to commit to him with their lives. Fans say they will follow as long as Christ doesn't ask too much of them. In Matthew 13:44 a man found a great treasure in a field, "then in his joy he went and sold all he had and bout that field." Notice his attitude while he gave everything he had for the treasure. The scripture says "in his joy". How joyful are you when Christ asks you for everything?

To have this type of passion and joy, or to recapture this type of passion you need to repent of your apathy so that you can passionately pursue your relationship with Christ. If you have lost this type of passion, as evidenced by your actions not your words, then repent and begin doing what is needed to rekindle that passion. Return to your first love.

How is your pursuit? Are you attempting to cohabitate with Christ instead of committing your life to him? Are you a fan or a follower?