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GIVING UP MY ALL TO FOLLOW, JUST TO DO MY MASTER'S WILL
Bergoglio, not yet elected Pope, washed the feet of 12 recovering drug addicts at a rehabilitation
center in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Bergoglio's
reputation for personal simplicity exercised an undeniable appeal - a Prince of
the Church who chose to live in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop's
palace, who gave up his chauffeured limousine in favor of taking the bus to
work, and who cooked his own meals- exchanging the trapments for a cup and
towel...
Nowhere
in the Bible do we ever see Jesus asking anyone to "become a
Christian." Instead, He asked people to "follow Him," and there
is a world of difference!
Jesus
never made it easy for people to follow Him. In fact, He drove the crowds away
by telling them they had to be willing to give up everything first.
Today
we've replaced those demands of our Lord with the simplistic, "Invite
Jesus into your heart,"
In 2013
it is our desire to go from simply being Christians to being bold followers of
Jesus Christ; surrendering all and following Him wherever He leads!
At the close of life,
the question will not be, "How much have you gotten?" but "How
much have you given?"
Not, "How much have you won?" but
"How much have you done?"
Not, "How much have you saved?"
but "How much have you sacrificed?"
By your our hands, feet and your well worn towel and battered cup I will know how much you loved and
served…
Sven Ljungholm
3 comments:
This is absolutely what I needed to read today Sven. I hope that all of us can be humble enough just to do our Master's will.
Thank you and God bless you in your ministry.
UKIT
Beautiful Sven! And btw, for all of the Army crapehangers out there who from time to time gather at this site---washing their feet was exactly one of the many things officers and soldiers did for the rescue workers at Ground Zero in New York during 9/11. (Though I suppose someone will soon write in that that was 11 years ago and that "these Salvationists today" would NEVER do that sort of thing anymore!)
I've ben really busy since February with projects, deadlines, etc. and have been itching to respond to some of the rhetoric and comments I've seen on this site on attrition, etc. but didn't have the time to do so. However, one day when I do have the time and the subject material is just right I'm going to let my fury out on all the ding-a-lings out there who think that what revolves around their tiny lives in microcosms of time is somehow the whole story of where a movement has been and is going without any regard for any type of historical perspective and ALWAYS with a skewered, idealistic view of what was happening 100 years before.
Oh well, I need to get off my soapbox for now and back to work. Beautiful piece Sven and though I hardly agree with all of his social positions, it is nice to see a humble Christ-like Pope at the reins of the Chritian church's largest denomination.
Daryl Lach
USA Central
P.S. Btw, even though he may be humble and Christ-like in many ways you can bet the new Pope Francis can still be a die-hard, hard nosed administrator as tough as any CEO of any large corporation when he needs to be---or else he never would've made it to the top!
mmm as a young child, like many in the worldwide SA I was encouraged to 'give my heart to Jesus' and I did so willingly and it meant something. However, that 'softly, softly' approach with good teaching and encouragement has not prevented me from being prepared to continue to respond by 'giving up my all to follow'. I pray that will be my response 'All my days and all my hours.'
Thank you for continuing to challenge those who read Sven and for shaking us out of our comfort zones.
Former UKIT
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