In a recent sermon, Pastor Craig Groeschel made the comment, “Easy never changed the world.” The life of a disciple has not ever been, nor will it ever be, easy. Following Jesus is difficult. It’s unpopular and brings little glory. But eleven men, disciples of Jesus, changed the entire world. Their impact is still being felt 2,000 years later. Their life wasn’t easy.
They were mocked and seen as insurgents and fools. They were constantly pursued, jailed, beaten, and in almost every case, they were killed. It wasn’t easy to follow Jesus in the first century, and it isn’t easy to follow Him now. But easy never changed the world.
Maybe you don’t want to change the world. Perhaps you just want to live a safe, comfortable life. What is unfortunate for you is the words “safe” and “comfortable” are not in the lexicon of a disciple. Disciples of Jesus never take it easy. Their lives are marked by a reckless abandon to the gospel and mission of Jesus. You don’t have to be a disciple of Jesus. The choice is yours to make. But if you decide to follow Christ and do it in the way He commanded us to do, your life will never be easy.
Pastor Groeschel went on to say, “Life isn’t about indulging or treating myself, it’s about denying myself.” We are on this planet to serve and glorify God. We don’t enter the equation beyond what it is we do for Him. Everything we do, we do for Jesus. There is no me, there is only Him. As a would-be disciple of Jesus, His dreams are now my dreams. His plans are my plans. I can hold onto nothing of my old life. It is dead. My life is found in Jesus and in Him alone.
I’ll be honest with you. It’s not always easy. In fact, it is rarely easy to live one’s life for Jesus. There are times I’d like to indulge my selfish desires and plans. And trust me, there are still too many times in which I do. It’s difficult letting go of your dreams. It’s hard to surrender your every thought, word, and action. But He is trustworthy. He will take what we give up, multiply it, and turn it into something far beyond anything we ever imagined.
As a follower of Jesus, a true follower, you have agreed to take part in His mission. You’ve committed your life to further His Kingdom. If this isn’t what you signed up for, you need to seriously consider what Christianity means. You need to determine who God is to you because this isn’t a negotiation. You are all in or you are left out.
To those still with me, we’ve got work to do. Life is about to get more interesting than before. Through it all, Jesus is with you every step of the way. There is no feeling like having done a full day of Kingdom work and rising the next morning to sit and talk with our King. It’s what makes everything worth it. So, strap up, we’ve got work to do. This isn’t going to be easy. But then again, easy never changed the world.