October 29, 2014 (Wednesday)
When you are using the computer occasionally you are faced with a screen that presents an agreement you are asked to accept. Agree or Disagree? How often do you check “agree” without reading the conditions? A company in England recently ran a test to see if people were reading before accepting conditions of an agreement. They inserted a clause that offered services in exchange for the company’s ownership of the user’s firstborn child! At least six people agreed.
If you don’t like the conditions, you can refuse to agree to them.
One day when Jesus spoke to a crowd of people, he laid down some conditions for following Him, and the crowd disagreed, refusing to accept His conditions. Here’s His invitation to become His disciple: “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23 NLT).
It was preaching like this that caused some people to turn away from Him. On another occasion “many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ‘You do not want to leave too, do you?’ Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.’ (John 6:66-69 NIV).
This drama is played out every day. Some reject Jesus. Some accept Him. His conditions for discipleship never change. He calls for full commitment. Agree? Disagree?