Even If i Walk Alone

Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus

Matthew

The Parable of the Wedding Feast

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I’ve read the parable of the wedding feast more times than I can remember. When we become so familiar with a passage, it’s easy to lose its significance. We must always guard against a casual reading of the Bible. Every word has the power to impact our lives. After all, it is the very Word of God. We should always read with reverence and awe. When we do, God reveals fresh insight and application of His story.

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This happened in my recent reading of the parable of the wedding feast. I’d always perceived those who refused to come to the feast as the Pharisees and the nation of Israel. All those who claimed to love God but refused to see Him in their midst. As is too often the case, I identify who Jesus was talking to while conveniently leaving myself out of that audience.

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Surrender to God

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God is not calling us to impurity (I Thessalonians 4:7). Nor is He calling us to be fearful (II Timothy 1:7). Why then do we spend so much of our time pursuing sinful things and living in fear? Is it we do not understand our calling or do we just not care? I’m not convinced there is a third option, and neither of the choices is good! This thought alone should drive us to our knees.

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If we are not living for Jesus, for what then are we living? Perhaps a better way to ask this is if Christ isn’t worthy of our lives, who or what is? Why are we not living our lives running away from sin and full of courage? Both are possible if we would only surrender to God.

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The Persecuted

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For many in the West, it is uncomfortable to talk about the persecuted Church around the world. While we may face ridicule and discrimination to one degree or another, we have no reference point for the brutality inflicted against our brothers and sisters in far-off countries. Much like the television commercials depicting starving children or animal shelters, the images are hard to look at so we close our eyes, mute the sound, or change the channel.

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We know these things exist but we would rather not think about them. But our discomfort does not change the reality of what is happening to our brothers and sisters. Imagine if it was your flesh and blood sibling who was enduring such things. Would you not keep them in the front of your mind and do everything in your power to help and encourage them? Then why are we so reluctant to discuss and bring attention to the plight of our brothers and sisters in Christ?

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Opposition

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Opposition means nothing to a person determined to follow God. If you set your mind on loving, living, and looking like Jesus, you will desire to do His will. Nothing else will matter, only Jesus. When you surrender to Christ, your desires will change. Your life will no longer be about yourself. It will be about God and others. But a life like this is only if you want it, and make no mistake, it will cost you.

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The devil sees your surrender to Christ as an open invitation to attack. You will find opposition at every turn. it’s probably time to check the level of your commitment to Christ if you aren’t facing opposition in your life. Jesus promised us we would have trouble in this world (John 16:33). If you aren’t experiencing it now, know that it is coming.

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A Disciple of Jesus

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In these crazy and unpredictable days, it’s hard for me not to feel like I’m sounding like a broken record. The Gospel is a simple message, and there are only so many ways to tell the story. The same is true for discipleship, which is the natural follow-up to salvation. To be a disciple of Jesus means we do what Jesus commands us to do. Discipleship demands we live lives where we love like Jesus.

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At the core, disciples are those who love God with their entire heart, soul, strength, and mind (Mark 12:28-30). And we love our neighbor as ourselves (Mark 12:31). Yet we will fill our minds with everything happening around us if we aren’t careful and intentional with our thinking. We will get caught up in the flow of culture and drift from our King and our purpose instead of focusing on Jesus’s beauty and His mission.

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