When you think you are following Jesus but you are really not

We had the special privilege of having Nixon Ng, one of our best leaders in Victory come and preach at our Youth Service Last night. God spoke a very clear message about LORDSHIP through him.

Here’s one of my take-home insights:  Following Jesus on your own terms is not following Jesus at all.

A man said, “I will” to Jesus

Luke 9:57 

"I will follow you wherever you go."

Sounds nice.

Yet this may (I’m not saying it is) be a classic case of someone who wishes to follow Jesus but relies primarily on his OWN WILL to do so.  Cases like this usually end up in unsuccessful pursuit of Christ.

Of course we cannot make that conclusion for this particular verse with certainty. (relax all ye theologians) But surely IT IS A GOOD REMINDER of how easy it is to fall into the trap of believing that we are following His will but really we are not.

We make ourselves believe that we have already surrendered to His will but the truth is we are still relying on our own will.

Let me explain.

Have you ever used these words with Jesus - “But first”

One guy in Luke 9:61 did.

He said, “I will follow you Lord, but first…

…there’s just something I gotta do, something I gotta take care of.”

There will always be something that demands to be taken cared of

There will always be something we gotta do first.

But what’s wrong with this statement? – “But first”

Here is what’s wrong with it - It shows that Jesus is not first.

If Jesus is not first, then it is not lordship.

Or how about this…

I’m willing to follow Jesus, but first let me take it one step at a time.

Might as well say, “In this deal, I’ll decide when God gets some and when God gets all.”

As you can see from these statements, it is very possible to have the appearance of following God but really you are not.  It happens when you try to follow God ON YOUR OWN TERMS.

Wanting to follow Jesus is a good thing but the subtle spiritual error of doing so on our own terms sabotages the whole intention of being under His lordship.

If we are going to follow Jesus, let us follow Him on HIS TERMS, not ours.  According to His will and not our will. 

Check out Nixon Ng's Sermon on Lordship HERE.