Apr
29
2011
It’s Just That Easy…Or Is It?
By Chad
Following Jesus- It’s just that easy. Or is it? Is following Jesus easy? Should it be? Is it tough? Do you agree with the words on this shirt that we see around from time to time?
Love to hear your thoughts!
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Following Jesus is most likely going to make your life harder. Jesus’ plans for my life don’t fit into this reality particularly nicely and that creates some friction. I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Vince stated it perfectly. Life gets HARDER as Jesus follower. We don’t fit in with this world. We BELONG in this world. We are commanded to minister to this world but we don’t conform to it. The difference is that now we don’t have to “do life” alone. We have the strength of Christ and the church to support us.
Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior, yes it is easy. Following Jesus, not so much.
Jody, good thoughts!
I think people view the Jesus Button like the Easy Button. Something wrong? Click the Jesus Button. Click the Easy Button. It’ll get fixed!! No hard work necessary!
However, you have to put in the work, you have to walk the path. Nothing is free, and progression is appreciated through the process. Remember:
God is with you always.
Greatness is found in hard work.
And Everything Happens For A Reason.
~cft
in agreement with the other statements above – when we accept jesus, we choose to walk a narrow path; rarely easy. if it were that easy wouldn’t everyone walk that path? the key is that redemption makes it WORTH it. nothing worth having is free or easy. just my 2 cents! ♥s2
Imputed righteousness, our passive righteousness, given to us by God through what Jesus did is easy. We didn’t have to labor to obtain that righteousness. Amen! However, our active righteousness, sanctification, being made righteous in a day-to-day laborious way is not easy.
Ugh. Frustration!
It’s this sort of simplistic view of faith that makes people walk away from the church. Jesus will NOT fix all your problems. In fact, Jesus calls you to suffer. So maybe he causes more problems than he fixes – but they’re the only problems worth having.
/endrant
If it were that easy, then why don’t more people do it?
I agree with Jody. The decision to accept the gift of salvation is much easier than many people make it out to be. It’s the daily walk that is difficult (can anybody say, “take up your cross”?!)
I agree with many of the responses above. It is not easy to follow Christ. Battling my flesh and the world is a daily struggle. As a regenerated follower of Christ I have experienced many losses, including family and friends. In Matthew 10:34 & 35 Jesus said: “Do not think that I came to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter in law against her mother in law.”
Promoting false gospel statements like the shirt above causes many to turn away. Especially when they realize the “abundant life” and the “easy life” that are being preached from pulpits all over this country are distortions or flat out lies. We as believers have a joy deep within us and we must stay focused on the real promises of God.