Jesus Will Wreck Your Life...

In this journey of following Jesus (or should I say, trying to - some days are better than others) one things has become crystal clear for me...

Following Jesus will wreck your life!

Oh, the things you thought were so important become...silly, futile, a waste of time and energy...objects you value become worthless and take up space...security?  We know we don't really have that.

Hate people? Not anymore!  And for some of us, that kinda sucks...as we were good at hating people.  Now, dang it, more often than not I start to feel compassion (dare I say love?) for them.

I begin to feel sorry that I don't HAVE change to give to the guy on the corner, when before I could just shrug him off and not be bothered.  Turn up my radio so I don't have to hear him asking.  Pretend I'm fiddling with my radio and just can't seem to find a song I like...

I begin to wonder what MORE can I give, and what LESS can I live with?

The wrong things begin to annoy me...like ME! How much of the wrongs in the world ARE my fault, because I either do nothing to stop and change it, or because I contribute...

I'm not saying I feel overwhelmingly guilty about it...it's more of an awareness.

I'm tucked safely behind my walls, even now, and there is a great need out there...beyond them.  I can help, I can start to change things, I can start to make a difference, I can follow Jesus (he's out there, calling me out, I can hear him!).

But to do so could mean...

And THAT'S where I pause, stop from taking that step, from making that commitment, from taking that risk.

All the changes that WILL happen...the things that will be different...how my life will change, and how the life I created will be ruined...

Oh, I know that to feel fully and be fully alive, I must follow him...but sometimes...sometimes the stagnant, bland, lifeless hug of these walls are comforting...if for no other reason that they are familiar and predictable.

Following Jesus is neither.