Rich Dixon invites us to follow along with him:

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Some rambling thoughts about following.

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” Unless it’s inconvenient.

Okay, I added that last part. But I’ve been thinking lately about following and riding bikes. I’m looking in the mirror and realizing how I unconsciously add subtle qualifiers to Jesus’ words.

Last week Jon described how Israel’s religious leaders piled layers of religious laws on top of God’s simple commands. We read and think, “Wow, we would never do that.” I’m not so sure.

Love your neighbor. Unless they make me uncomfortable.

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I’m not sure what it looks like to deny myself, take up my cross, and follow Jesus. I think it’s something I have to figure out, bit by bit, day by day. Whenever I’m certain I understand, that’s probably a sign I need to start over.

I’m pretty sure it doesn’t look like Jesus walking behind me, on my self-designed path, carrying my stuff like a sherpa.

Love your enemies. Well, yeah, but not THEM, right?

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I said I was thinking about riding bikes. At the FREEDOM TOUR we’re surrounded by a beautiful community of folks who support kids rescued from human trafficking. We follow Jesus, so we would never do what Israel’s religious leaders did. We would never add layers of expectations to Jesus’ simple words. Right?

I’m not all that sure. I suspect we’re all prone to drawing lines while Jesus erases them. I also suspect some of our lines are so familiar we can’t imagine life without them.

“…your kingdom come, your will be done…” , except, what’s wrong with a few well-meaning shortcuts when kids are still abused, when justice doesn’t happen my way, on my timeline?

Deny myself.

Your kingdom. Your will. Your way.