All or Nothing

Making the decision to follow Christ is no small thing.  Its not something that can be inherited from a parent; it must be owned by each individual.  And important to note, especially in our society of mixed loyalties, Christ demands complete faithfulness.  Its an all or nothing proposition.  Listen to what Jesus says:

Then He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God."  And another also said, "Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house."  But Jesus said to him, "No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God."  Luke 9:58-62 (NKJV)

Being a disciple of Christ is a major thing.  So major its the only thing; the only thing that matters anyway.  Yeah, a father might die, but Christ says "let the dead bury their own dead," because preaching the kingdom of God is more important.  Just putting things into perspective.  To the one who wanted to say goodbye to his family, Jesus said, "no one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."  Its a serious business.  Being a Christian is everything a man or woman is.  It comes before everything.  Listen again to the words of the Son of God.

He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy or Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  -Jesus in Matthew 10:37-38 (NKJV)

You can't expect the price of immortality and eternal rest with God to be cheap.  Christ comes first.  He comes before your closest relations.  He comes before every desire, dream or want you ever had.  He must be your first love, and there cannot be another that compares with Him.  And how about the person who tries to go halfway?  We call them lukewarm.  This is what Jesus says:

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot.  I could wish you were cold or hot.  So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.  -Jesus in Revelation 3:15-16 (NKJV)

There is the inherent requirement that every Christian man and woman be zealous for Christ.  Now this doesn't mean that we must put on a show, or in whatever way make sure that people know we are zealous.  Yes, it is good to publicly and unashamedly proclaim the name of Christ.  But we don't put on a show of zeal for men.  Rather, we are faithfully zealous to Christ, and this doesn't show in obvious ways.  A single mother trying to raise her child and do what is right according to God's commands is zealous, but we wouldn't think it.  If she is faithful to Christ in her circumstances, loves Him first of all, and to the best of her ability follows His commands, then she is zealous.  She might not be praised as such by men, but that doesn't matter.  Zeal is a matter of taking God's word seriously.  And taking God's word seriously is a matter of obedience.  Make no mistake about it, if a person does not obey God, that person is not a Christian.  But the person that does obey God, he or she is a zealot.  How so?  Christ says "drop everything and follow me."  Now come on, following that command makes a person zealous.  To the rich young ruler, "sell everything and give it to the poor, then follow me."  Did he obey?  Sure, he followed the commandments since he was young.  Christ loved him.  But he didn't have the kind of zeal required to forget about money and love Christ first.

My encouragement is not to go and act crazy or whatever.  There could be a time for that, maybe, but zeal is a matter of faithful obedience.  Do what Christ says.  Make disciples of all nations.  The harvest is ripe, and now is the time.  Whatever holds you back, you must totally abandon it.  You must obey His command.  Because its all or nothing.  Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.