Fan or Follower?

In 19th chapter of Matthew we are introduced to a man known as the rich young ruler and his question for Jesus is "what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?".  Jesus' answer is something this young man is not prepared to do and the bible says "when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions."

This young man was a fan, but chose not to be a follower!  A fan will give only a little time, a little effort, a little money, whereas a follower chooses to be fully committed to following, no matter the cost.

Listen to Luke 9:23, (Jesus) “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”  There is a very challenging phrase in there that says “deny himself".  In this portion of scripture Jesus makes it clear that if we are going to follow Him, we cannot have a "non-committed” arrangement.

You don’t hear that much about denying ourselves, because we live in a culture that stresses independence & fulfilling ourselves.  It is not appealing to talk about denying ourselves.

What about you, today?  Where are you with all this?  Are you willing to bet your soul on just knowing about God?

Are you a fan or a follower?
Pastor R. Hoffman