Will I Be His Disciple?

A friend of mine is involved with an online writing class/ forum. It's called the One Year Adventure Novel program, and from what I've seen, it's really neat. Some of the students (or authors, I should say :) really are amazing. Sometimes my friend will tell me about things that various students post on the forum for everyone to read and enjoy. One young lady, named Ashley Jones, on the forum wrote a poem that really sticks out as something we as Christians should think about more often.

Muslims and American Christians

"The Muslims bow to the floor
Their voices all in one accord.
They shout in unison, to Allah they pray
All their lives, five times a day.
They even bow in a certain direction,
Facing Mecca with flawless perfection.
The people honor the month of Ramadan
By giving up the food they rely upon,
By abstaining from ignoble deeds,
And not adhering to their every need.
Don't you find there behavior sort of odd?
Since they serve a false god?

So-called ‘American Christians’ hardly pray.
Not even close to five times a day!
Attendance levels look kind of bleak
They go to church maybe once a week.
The self-styled Christians live their own lives
Not paying mind to another’s strife,
Nor giving to the needs of the poor,
Wanting for themselves more and more!
Scorning Jesus Christ’s name,
Playing their silly little Christian game.
Don’t you find their behavior sort of odd?
Since they serve the true God?"

~Ashley Jones, Copyright 2010


Now, no matter how much one agrees or disagrees with the theological views of the Muslims, you have to admire that kind of commitment! Fasting, ignoring thier own personal preferences, and praying upwards of five times throughout the day.

Wow.

What if Christians in America (an avowed 81% of Americans) had a commitment like that?

The last two lines of the first stanza ring true with me. "Don't you find their behavior sort of odd? Since they serve a false god?" My answer: a resounding 'YES!' It's easy for me to say this because I have been redeemed and loved by the true amazing, all-powerful, loving, rational, merciful God-- the One and Only.

BUT-- am I willing to give Him the same kind of complete, total, and absolute devotion that the most devout Muslim would give to Allah? It's a silly question, really, but it's a valid one. Isn't it only right if I do?

Will I serve my God no matter what expectations I'm surrounded by? No matter who I'm with? No matter where I am? Will I love Him with the kind of love with which He first loved me? Will I give Him my trust; my whole heart?

Would I give everything up for the One and Only?


Luke 14:27, "And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me, he cannot be My disciple."

He Is My Portion

Lately, I've been reading a lot in my devotions about how God is all we need.

Lamentations 3:24, "I say to myself, 'the Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.'"

Exodus 15:2, "The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him."

1 Chronicles 16:11, "Look to the LORD and his strength; seek His face always.


Psalm 28:8, "The LORD is the strength of His people, a fortress of salvation for His anointed one."

Psalm 73:26, "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

Psalm 105:4, "Look to the LORD and His strength; seek His face always."

Isaiah 12:2, "Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation."


Is that true of you? I think of how often we, even as Christians, try to come before God bringing Jesus plus something else. But we cannot in any way be justifiable before our Lord with Jesus plus anything else. It is either Jesus that we depend on for everything, or it is not. Either God will be one's portion, or something else will have first priority in life. This is sometimes a very hard concept to grasp. We think that we understand that Jesus is all we need, yet sometimes we are not willing to make Jesus all that we have. As Corrie ten Boom once said, "You can never know that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have." It really is easy to think that we can approach God's throne bringing something of our own. But we cannot. It's either Jesus, or something else.

God is jealous for our affections...

Is He your portion?