Sunday
will be the last day in our series, "Walk This Way". Today's passage, 1
Timothy 6:17-19, presents us with a subtle warning that the path of walking
with Jesus may not be as we would like to believe.
In Luke 9, we read that everyone wanted to walk with Jesus. I mean, why not? He was healing them and feeding them, and telling them things that stirred their souls. Just when He seems to have the masses on His side, He turns to them and says, “If anyone would come after me he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.” In others words, Jesus calls to the crowd and says “Follow me and die!” Not exactly a stellar church growth motto! But He means it. Shortly after this a man says to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus looks at him and says, “I’m homeless. Come live like me.” Jesus calls another man to follow Him, but the man says, “Let me go home and take care of my family first.” Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Seems harsh, doesn't it? It doesn't seem to fit with our image of a meek, kind, easy to follow Jesus. But in our series we have learned that though Jesus is accepting and kind, He is also the eternal Son of God who will not accept second place in anyone’s life. Walking with Jesus means dying to everything we are and have, and following Him on the path He desires to walk. That's why idols are such terrible things. They are things we keep in our lives that are more important to us than Jesus. And the idol that tends to be most troublesome in our lives is wealth. We may be reticent to talk about money, but God is not. Money or wealth is mentioned in the Bible over 800 times. Read 1 Timothy 6:17-19 and ask God to lead you on an idol hunt in your own heart.
