The True Pursuit of Jesus is to Stop Pursuing Anything of this World for Oneself and to Devote Oneself to Him Fully and Wholeheartedly
Many professing Christians claim that they are following Him, but the reality is that they are not truly following Jesus. While they may try as hard to obey Him, they cannot fully obey all of His Commands because they do not fully accept all of His Commands in full.
They are willing to follow Jesus, but only on their terms. They are willing to follow Him only where their desires, wants, dreams, visions and ambitions can be satisfied. Whenever following Him conflicts with their desires, wants, dreams, visions and ambitions, they do not want to follow Him, but instead want God to accommodate for these desires, wants, dreams or ambitions.
Such so-called 'christians' are those who appear godly but are ambitious about their own careers or vocations, including ministry careers, are driven, and are constantly talking about their dreams and 'waiting on God' to fulfill their desires. Such people are not true Servants of God. Instead, they want God to serve them. They serve God only to get what they want in return. Jesus described such people in Luke 14:15-24:
Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
Such people are the ones who do not want to eat the bread in the Kingdom of God because they are seeking the delicacies of Egypt like the Israelites who would rather live in Egypt to enjoy the meat and leeks despite being under the yoke of slavery, than to endure the wilderness where they were liberated from slavery (Exodus 16:3).
It is not that they reject the rewards of the Kingdom of God like the average unbeliever who does not profess Christ. These people want the rewards of the Kingdom of God, but do not want to eat the Bread of Life, that is, to seek Jesus who is the Bread (John 6:35), for eating the Bread of Life requires total self-sacrifice to follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). So, they seek to find a way to circumvent the commands of Jesus for total self-sacrifice and self-denial. The most common way they do so is to confound their own dreams or ambitions with God's Will for them. That way they can claim that their own dreams or ambitions are God's Will for them, so that they can justify their own desires for their own dreams or ambitions.
They were hesitant about coming to the Kingdom of God because they wanted both the treasures of the world and the treasures of the Kingdom of God. They wanted to enjoy the pleasures and treasures of the world, and used them as excuses to not come to the Kingdom of God when Jesus beckoned them to come. This use of excuses that one had land, oxen or a spouse itself shows that they were not truly seeking to obey Jesus. They wanted to enjoy such earthly things first, and then follow Jesus later after they had obtained such things. This reveals their self-seeking motives, and that their heart was not truly seeking Jesus.
Yet, they are not like the unbeliever who does not profess Christ and who reject Christ outright. Rather, they are double-minded in wanting both the treasures of the world and the treasures of the Kingdom of God. This makes them worse than such unbelievers. The truth is that no one can seek both. One can only seek the treasures of the world or the treasure of the Kingdom of God, for where one's treasure is, there is one's heart also (Matthew 6:21).
A Servant of God is not to seek his or her own dreams or ambitions, but rather to lay them down and simply follow Christ, no matter what the cost. Rather, he is to seek the Will of God first, and align his desires with it. He is not to lean on his own ways or understanding, but lean on the ways of the Lord and let Him direct his paths. He is not to be driven, seeking his own path:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
The true Christian way is to be led by God, and not driven, independent or having self-ambition. All ambition must be to fulfill one's God-given and God-ordained calling, and none of it, not even to the slightest is to be for one's own self-will, or self-driven ambition.
A professing Christian who is seeking both the treasures and pleasures of the world, and the treasures of the Kingdom of God is not truly after Jesus. He is double-minded, seeking only Jesus for what he can get from Him, but not loving him.
They are willing to follow Jesus, but only on their terms. They are willing to follow Him only where their desires, wants, dreams, visions and ambitions can be satisfied. Whenever following Him conflicts with their desires, wants, dreams, visions and ambitions, they do not want to follow Him, but instead want God to accommodate for these desires, wants, dreams or ambitions.
Such so-called 'christians' are those who appear godly but are ambitious about their own careers or vocations, including ministry careers, are driven, and are constantly talking about their dreams and 'waiting on God' to fulfill their desires. Such people are not true Servants of God. Instead, they want God to serve them. They serve God only to get what they want in return. Jesus described such people in Luke 14:15-24:
Now when one of those who sat at the table with Him heard these things, he said to Him, “Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!”
Then He said to him, “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’ And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’ Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’ So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ”
Such people are the ones who do not want to eat the bread in the Kingdom of God because they are seeking the delicacies of Egypt like the Israelites who would rather live in Egypt to enjoy the meat and leeks despite being under the yoke of slavery, than to endure the wilderness where they were liberated from slavery (Exodus 16:3).
It is not that they reject the rewards of the Kingdom of God like the average unbeliever who does not profess Christ. These people want the rewards of the Kingdom of God, but do not want to eat the Bread of Life, that is, to seek Jesus who is the Bread (John 6:35), for eating the Bread of Life requires total self-sacrifice to follow Jesus (Matthew 16:24). So, they seek to find a way to circumvent the commands of Jesus for total self-sacrifice and self-denial. The most common way they do so is to confound their own dreams or ambitions with God's Will for them. That way they can claim that their own dreams or ambitions are God's Will for them, so that they can justify their own desires for their own dreams or ambitions.
They were hesitant about coming to the Kingdom of God because they wanted both the treasures of the world and the treasures of the Kingdom of God. They wanted to enjoy the pleasures and treasures of the world, and used them as excuses to not come to the Kingdom of God when Jesus beckoned them to come. This use of excuses that one had land, oxen or a spouse itself shows that they were not truly seeking to obey Jesus. They wanted to enjoy such earthly things first, and then follow Jesus later after they had obtained such things. This reveals their self-seeking motives, and that their heart was not truly seeking Jesus.
Yet, they are not like the unbeliever who does not profess Christ and who reject Christ outright. Rather, they are double-minded in wanting both the treasures of the world and the treasures of the Kingdom of God. This makes them worse than such unbelievers. The truth is that no one can seek both. One can only seek the treasures of the world or the treasure of the Kingdom of God, for where one's treasure is, there is one's heart also (Matthew 6:21).
A Servant of God is not to seek his or her own dreams or ambitions, but rather to lay them down and simply follow Christ, no matter what the cost. Rather, he is to seek the Will of God first, and align his desires with it. He is not to lean on his own ways or understanding, but lean on the ways of the Lord and let Him direct his paths. He is not to be driven, seeking his own path:
Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.
(Proverbs 3:5-6)
The true Christian way is to be led by God, and not driven, independent or having self-ambition. All ambition must be to fulfill one's God-given and God-ordained calling, and none of it, not even to the slightest is to be for one's own self-will, or self-driven ambition.
A professing Christian who is seeking both the treasures and pleasures of the world, and the treasures of the Kingdom of God is not truly after Jesus. He is double-minded, seeking only Jesus for what he can get from Him, but not loving him.
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