They Just Walked Away

Today I was reading from John chapter 6.  Jesus had just fed the 5,000 and he slipped off to be alone with His Father. The next day the people who had been with Him asked, "when did you get here?"  Jesus said to them, you aren't looking for Me, you are looking for more miracles and free food. (msp's paraphrase)

As Jesus continues He tell them what they must do to never hunger or thirst again. He repeats it over and over again (because repetition is how children learn!),  what it takes to have life eternal...

Eugene Peterson says in The Message: "in a nutshell... this is what My Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who He is and what He does and then aligns with Him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time."

After hearing this and much more, in verse 60 the people say, "this is tough teaching, too tough to swallow."  and they left. They walked away not wanting anything to do with Jesus or His teachings. They just didn't get it.

How sad is that?! After everything they had just seen and experienced, they just walked away. What Jesus did for them was not because He had to - He could have seen their hungry eyes and heard their growling stomachs and just ignored them, but because of His love and compassion for them, He took care of their physical needs. And yet... they still didn't get it.

Jesus later asked the twelve if they wanted to leave. He gave them the same opportunity.  They replied, "we've committed ourselves to you and are confident in who you say you are."  And Jesus says, yet one of you will betray Me.

You see Judas just didn't get it. He spent so much time actually with Jesus, in His presence and he still didn't get it. He allowed the "stuff" of the world to distract him. Why? He was there with the other eleven and heard the words of Jesus, saw the miracles He performed, and he even received the same love. Why didn't he get it?

Well, maybe because, "It's easy, but it's hard."

For a long time I didn't get it either.
I was a very good girl.  I rarely got in trouble. I never did anything to embarrass my family. I went to church every Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night and every extra whatever there was in between. I didn't cuss, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. I didn't do drugs. I didn't hang with the "wrong" people. BUT, I did gossip. I did lie. I did have a bad attitude from time to time. I did have ugly, negative thoughts and sometimes I did things w/ impure motives. I thought I was better that other "Christians" because I wasn't doing the really bad stuff.

What I didn't get was these are ALL equal sins in God's eyes.  It's not like we get FIVE demerits  for cussing and only ONE for  gossip.  GOD HATES SIN, ALL SIN. I just didn't get that "being good isn't good enough".

When I'm not really sure, but one day a light bulb came on and God so clearly said, "Why are you comparing yourself to others? It is My heavenly standard you are to strive for."  A heavenly standard? So, the only one I should ever compare myself to is Jesus. He is to be my one and only example on how to live to please, honor and glorify the Father. He is the only one who ever got that right 100% of the time!
That sounds really easy... yet hard.

What I've figured out is this...
Yes, it was easy to love Jesus, to accept His love and to come to that place when I recognized that I was dying in my sin, and I was lost without a Savior. It was easy to ask Jesus to save me. That was the best day of my life!

But, it's hard... every day I live in this world there is going to be hardships and struggles. I love God and want to please Him with everything in me - but I'm flesh and too often worldly thoughts and attitudes and behaviors get in the way.  It's hard to "daily die to self".

I guess the question was did I have the "want to" to get it!?
My answer was and continues to be, "YES".   As long as I have the want to, I will ever so gently feel God pulling me back. I will hear His sweet whisper in my ear. And, I will come to Him in moments of brokenness and allow Him to heal.

The crowd that day enjoyed the easy of following Jesus. They liked the "free food"! If only it could always be easy! - Well God never promised that did He?  Once they heard "the hard", it was too "tough to swallow",  so they chose to walked away... lost, hopeless, and dead.

I heard Louie Giglio once say, you can read one verse in the Bible over and over again, for the rest of your life and you will never understand everything there is to know.  We won't ever completely "get it", but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. One day I'll be sitting at the feet of Jesus, and I'll get it and it will be so totally worth it!

What about you?
Do you get it? Do you want to? Do you find it easy, yet hard?
Do you ever feel lost, hopeless or dead?  God wants to bring you into a new life in Him!
God never said we had to live this life alone... He will never leave or forsake us.
That is a promise you can count on!

Father, I have no clue who will read this blog - if anyone. But I've written what I felt you leading me to say and I believe You have a purpose. Father thank you for loving me and nudging me and whispering in my ear. Thank you for the reminders everyday, multiple times a day, that I am Yours and that You love me exactly as I am. Thank you for bringing me to that place in life where I had to uncover some ugly truths about myself and allow you to clean it up. Please forgive me Father for those times when I fall back into thoughts and behaviors of the world. Thank you for holding on and pulling me back.  Father, for those who You nudge to read this blog - use it however You will to speak to them. Give them insight into their own lives and help them to see the places where they need to admit change needs to be made and allow You to transform them to look more like Jesus. That is my desire as well Father, I don't want to conform to the ways of this world, Father I want to be transformed into Your likeness.  I love You, Father and I ask these things in Your Son's most precious name, Amen.