Sabbath School Lesson 10 || Following Jesus in Everyday Life

Description

This week's Bible Study Lesson is on "Following Jesus in Everyday Life." In this study Nixon Kadiramwando hosts his first Melvee Video Productions Bible Lesson Study and is joined by a brand new panel of Evangelist Rodgers Mulenga Lesa (from Lusaka, Zambia) and Elder Bruce Mutaurwa (Randburg, South Africa). The lesson challenges us to follow Christ and His Word in everyday activities. In this post modern society we live in, people are happy to follow Jesus as long as it doesn’t require any significant changes or have any negative implications. People love comfort, and for many Jesus only brings additional security to an already comfortable situation. The lessons seems to label this to be poor theology; it’s not what our relationship with God should look like. The lesson makes it clear that comfort is not the language of Christ? Instead, it speaks of carrying a cross, giving up your life, and intentionally becoming last, giving away eminence and the pride of life. We must understand that there is no way to follow Jesus without him interfering with our life. Following Jesus daily will always cost you something. The question therefore is has your following of Jesus cost you anything? This is a question each one of us must answer. Most of us don’t mind Jesus making some minor change in our lives, as long as it’s not too radical. But what if I told you that Jesus wants to turn your life upside-down? Some people don’t mind a little touch-up work, but God wants to completely renovate. People want a tune-up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul. Some want Jesus to inspire them, but Jesus wants to interfere with their lives. Bottom-line, Jesus will mess up your life! The parable of the Rich Young Ruler (Matthew 19; Mark 10) is comparable to many professed Christians. We all embody the Rich Young Ruler. Many of you who are reading this write up, regardless of your socio-economic status, are richer than most of the world’s population who cannot even think of accessing internet or social media. You have most of all our needs, everything we want and need is right at our fingertips. In the story of the Rich Young Ruler the man comes to Jesus and asks: “What must I do to have eternal life?” After some discussion Jesus finally says, “Go, sell what you possess and give it away…and come and follow me.” The young man walks away sad because he is not willing to give everything away to follow the One who called himself the Messiah. He failed to believe that Jesus is who he claimed to be… and sadly, so do many of us. After much thought about this passage I believe the core of the story has to do with us letting go of things in our lives that keep us from completely surrendering to the Holy Spirit and following God. In the past I’ve given up certain hobbies, relationships, roles, and other things that I felt I was holding too tightly. Sometimes these things get in the way of us following Jesus with deep commitment. I must remember that none of what I have is mine; it all belongs to God, he merely entrusts me with certain abilities and resources to use wisely in building the kingdom. My prayer for you and us all is that we do our best to use our gifts the way God desires, and that we'll be a good steward of the life God has given me. Jesus never offers us an option between being a follower and being a spectator. He is looking for more than words of belief; he’s looking to see how those words are lived out in our lives. When we decide to believe in Jesus without making a commitment to follow him, we are nothing more than spectators. Never forget that we have only one life which will sooner or later end, only what you do for God will outlive you and last forever. If this study lesson has been a blessing to you, please leave a comment below or share it with others in your network for them to also receive their portion. You too can be part of this production. Get in touch with MelVee Video Productions at info@melveeproductions.com or telephone +27-82-333-0512.