903 Serving Like Jesus Did - John 20:21

Why do we think following Jesus will be easy?   So Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." John 20:21 NASB   Notice that Jesus says, As the Father sent me, so I send You. What do we see when we consider the phrase "as the Father sent me"?   I came across this verse when I was recording the podcast series on 2 Corinthians 6:1-12. We see hardship. We see a call to be totally focused and devoted. In Philippians 2:9 we see that God highly exalted Jesus and gave him a name above every name. But it says "for this reason." That reason was that Jesus was obedient even to the point of death on a cross.   The call to follow Jesus has difficulty in it. How are we handling the difficulty? Don't listen to the voices in your head that say there is no difficulty if we choose to do whatever we want. The difficulties of life are inescapable. Jesus made that point in John 16:33. We don't avoid the trouble of this life by following Jesus or denying him. But we can avoid the difficulties of the next life by following Jesus.   The outcome of that choice, to follow Jesus, needs to be service. It's discomfort. We are asked to do things that cost us time or money. We are asked to serve people we don't like. Choose to follow Jesus into his calling in this life and you escape the difficulty in the next. You also get a lot of joy and peace in this life, too.   What is God asking you to do? I prayed that something would pop into your head just before or while you're hearing this. Go. Do it! Let's be people who encourage one another to follow Jesus.   See also podcast episode 627, too.