Wednesday, January 18, 2017

The Cost of Following Jesus

"Hearing what he was doing, a large number of people came to Jesus also from Jerusalem, from Idumea, from beyond the Jordan, and from the neighborhood of Tyre and Sidon." Mk 3: 8-9

Jesus continually surprises his disciples. Just as they get comfortable with the direction he is taking, he turns a corner and turns their world upside down. When people from all over follow him, Jesus reminds them that he has no place to lay his head.

In claiming his identity as a pilgrim and an itinerant preacher, Jesus promises his disciples that like the God of the Hebrew scriptures he will always love them, but will also makes huge and important demands on them. They must live like him, without family or wealth, but also be full of hope and compassion. God will guide them and care for them, he insists, but they have to trust.

The emptiness of having nothing in Christ is a fullness beyond compare. Clinging to nothing, we have everything. The faith to believe this is the test we all face.

Today, empty yourself of everything that gets in the way of loving God and neighbor.

Have you known the glory of feeling rich even when you have nothing?

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