Avoid a Half Hearted Commitment

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Matthew 16:24 NIV

In a story titled “Meet the local runner a marathon away from making it 6 majors. Next stop: Boston” published earlier this week, Albert Lew said that when he was growing up in Monterey Park and Alhambra, he did not consider himself an athlete. Instead, he focused those early years on academics. Fast forward into adulthood, and Lew, of Monterey Park, has found a passion in running – around the world. Now, he wants that passion to inspire others, whatever the long journey in their own lives. Lew, 40 will run the Boston Marathon on Monday, thus becoming one of just a handful of people in the world who have participated in all six of the Abbott World Marathon Majors.“I basically am doing something that I don’t think has been done within my smaller cities,” said Lew, who has run the five other major marathons in Berlin, Chicago, London, New York and Tokyo over the past two years. “It’s quite a feat … Trying to do marathons is not an easy task,” said Lew, who hopes that he can inspire other people to follow their dreams in whatever area.

And, you know, as someone who runs marathons frequently, I will agree with Lew that completing a 26.2 mile race is never an easy task. It requires a lot of discipline and a lot of training. But it’s well worth it in the end. In the same way, heeding the command to deny yourself and take up your cross to follow Jesus will not be an easy task, to say the least, but it will be well worth it in the end. You see, as Jesus told the disciples, those who truly want to follow Him must be ready and willing to face suffering and even death. Jesus wasn’t asking them, and He isn’t asking us, for a half-hearted commitment. Those who want to follow Jesus must make a full commitment and must daily surrender their own will do to His will—never wavering in their support and never compromising on the Truth. 

So, knowing that only a relative handful of people in the world will ever have the distinction of being called faithful followers of Jesus Christ, decide this day whom you will serve. It’s either the world or Jesus my friend. Our Savior will not accept half-hearted commitment, but will greatly reward all those who run according to the rules and.make it to the finish line. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for clearly telling us what it takes to be counted as a true follower of Jesus. Help us to understand that any suffering, persecution, or hardship that we might be called to endure for His sake in this life will be light and momentary compared with the eternal benefits we will receive in the next life if we stay faithful. Give us the strength to run with endurance until the very end Lord, that we might grab hold of the eternal prize and inspire others to do the same. It’s in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!