How would you describe what it means to be a Christian and follow Jesus? Many would say words like the following:
- Blessed
- Unconditional Love
- A Peace That Cannot Be Described
- Forgiven
- Loved
- Salvation
- Saved
- Supernatural Miracles
- Amazing Grace
- Mercy We Don’t Deserve
- Victorious
- Overcomer
- Freedom In Jesus
- Life Overflowing
- Abundant Life
- Eternal Life
We like these words and have experienced them and still do on a daily basis. But those are not the only words that describe what it is to be a Christian and follow Jesus.
Today, Nate Galloway, the fantastic Family Pastor of Piedmont Church shown above, preached a message from Genesis 22:1-14. This is a passage of Scripture many Christians struggle with. It is in these pages of text where God asks Abraham to sacrifice his long-awaited son Isaac as an act of worship. It is a hard passage to read and understand.
Nate also provided a different set of words and comments which describe what it means to be a Christian and follow Jesus.
See if any of these resonate with you because they certainly do with me:
- Uncomfortable – “Sometimes we have to step out of our comfort zones to follow Him.”
- Sacrifice – “There are things we have to sacrifice… to give up.”
- Battle – “If you’ve experienced victory then you’ve experienced a battle… Sometimes in this world the Christian life is a fight.”
- Difficult – “Sometimes it’s not easy. Sometimes it’s hard.”
- Unfair – “I know I’m not the only whose felt that way… Sometimes we’ve said, ‘That’s NOT FAIR.’ God never promised fair.”
- Dying To Self – “There is a death to be experienced when following Jesus. This is the part of Christianity a lot of us don’t want to admit and don’t want to talk about.”
- Suffering – “Sometimes the way we become most like Him is in our suffering and most of us don’t want to suffer.”
- Surrender – “You lay it all down at His feet to follow Him.”
It was then Nate began to unpack what it really means to be a Christian and follow Jesus based upon this passage. The following are just a sample of his comments. You should watch this entire can’t-miss message by clicking HERE.
- “Sometimes it’s hard waiting on God.”
- “Who was testing Abraham? God. Not Satan. Not the world. God.”
- “If me and you are going to follow God, it is going to cost us something… It might require you sacrificing what you love most… It might cost you your life. You might lose everything to follow Jesus… You and I have to decide if we trust Him enough to follow Him anyway.”
- “A lot of us have a skewed view of what worship is.”
- “In that moment when you don’t know how it’s going to end, do you still trust God? Do you keep following? Do you obey? Do you surrender?”
- “When God makes a promise, God keeps His promise.” Nate also read Hebrews 11:1, 8-12, 17-19 which gives us perspective and the hope of the resurrection.
- “When God is asking us to do something hard, we have to remember who is doing the asking.”
- “He is a God who loves us. He is a God who is completely in control. He is a perfect Heavenly Father… who can be trusted no matter what.”
- “We’re all sitting here today because of Abraham’s faith and the birth of our savior Jesus Christ.”
- “Trust and obey for there is no other way. The only way me and you can follow Jesus is to trust Him and obey Him no matter what.”
Nate then added two other words describing what it means to be a Christian and follow Jesus – Worth It.
He added, “Only those who say, ‘Jesus, you are worth it no matter what’, are the ones who keep following Him because that is what it looks like to follow Him.”
Nate concluded by asking the question everyone has asked themselves at one time or another, “Do you believe Jesus is worth it? No matter the sacrifice, not matter what you give up, do you believe Jesus is worth it?”
His response was emphatic – “Jesus, you’re worth it.”
For more from the preaching excellence of Nate Galloway, click 24 Signs Of An Elite Preacher.
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