Making A Difference Daily

Today’s Reading – John 5 & 6

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (John 6:66 & 67)

This passage reminds us of the lack of commitment there exists in people that call themselves Christians. Jesus had a “Big Day” up on the mount, and after teaching the people He fed them; and there were possibly as many as twenty thousand in attendance. (The Bible only tells us about the 5000 men.) After being fed and seeing the other miraculous things that the Lord did, these people desired to follow Him. They finally find Him, but when they do He is teaching some strange doctrines. He is talking about “eating his flesh and drinking his blood”. Now we know that He was not advocating a literal cannibalistic act, but was referring to His people identifying with His broken body and shed blood on the cross. He was speaking of what was coming for Him,  letting His followers know that a cross was waiting for Him, and that persecution was waiting for the followers as well. The disciples didn’t understand or appreciate what Jesus had to say. They were OK with getting free meals, and they certainly liked to watch the miracles, but now the Lord was telling them that there was a lot more to true discipleship than the pleasant things that they had already witnessed. And they all left Him, save the twelve apostles. This was possibly the first recorded “church split”. Jesus went from twenty thousand down to twelve almost instantaneously.

I find that people today are much the same way. They enjoy the “bells and whistles”. They appreciate the popcorn, bubble gum, soft pretzels, water ice, and cotton candy that we give them. They love the entertainment and the giveaways of the big days; but when it comes down to bearing their own cross in real discipleship, for the most part, they bail out. I think that we who are leaders in the church need to be more honest with the people up front about what true discipleship entails. We tell them about all of the wonderful aspects of Christianity, and they truly are wonderful; but the truth is that living as a Christian should live here on this earth will come at a cost. It will not always be fun. They won’t all be big days. There will be persecution and there will be many heartaches and burdens. Maybe if we better prepared these would be disciples for the battles ahead, they would be better equipped to endure them.

I want to stay faithful to the Lord, until He takes me home to Heaven; but I have to be honest with you: I am scared sometimes. I have been tempted on more than one occasion to quit, and I have seen better men than me “go away”. Pray for me, and if I know who you are, I will pray for you. Don’t quit. Stay with the Lord. This world has nothing to offer you but heartache and pain. Don’t go away! We love you, and we need you; and try not to get discouraged when others that you love go away. As much as we try to prevent it from happening, the fact is that many will not remain faithful. I t is what it is. But don’t allow the casualties to discourage you and pull you out of the battle.

Today’s Reading – John 4 & 5

But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. (John 4:14)

In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. (John 7:37)

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (Matthew 5:6)

I remember as a young boy I used to play baseball on a sandlot baseball team. Our team was made up of fellas from our neighborhood and we would challenge other neighborhoods to come play against us. I remember one particular game in the heart of the summer where we were playing the team from Lake Riviera. It was about 95 degrees outside and very humid. Do you know that only one person out of all of those boys there had enough sense to bring some water. We had about 2 dozen guys there that were very thirsty. The guy with the water jug almost did not make it out of there with his life, let alone his water.

In this passage of Scripture, we have the Lord Jesus talking with the woman at the well in Samaria. She was concerned about earthly water, the kind that is necessary to sustain life for the body. The Lord was concerned about spiritual water, the kind that is necessary to bring about everlasting life. He was referring to the indwelling Holy Spirit of God which would indwell all believers.

My thought this morning though is not about the water itself, but the thirst. Thirst equals desire. It is amazing to me how that so many Christians have a desire for the things that this world offers, but little thirst for the things of God. What do you desire; what do you thirst for? God desires to fill you to overflowing with eternal things, with the fruits of His Spirit; but He will not fill those of us who are not thirsty. Are you thirsty for God? I almost beat up the kid with the water jug that day, because I was thirsty; but how passionate am I about my desire for the spiritual? How about you?