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What Jesus Expects of Those He Selects
Chris Adsit, Associate National Director of Discipleship, Military Ministry
Illiteracy is common In
Africa. You’d think this would cause big problems on shopping day--if you can’t
read a label, how do you know what’s inside? Easily fixed: put a picture of the
contents on the label. If you see peas on the label, you can expect peas in the can.
You can probably imagine the horror of so many African women when those little jars of Gerber Baby Foods began appearing on their grocery store shelves! You know--the ones with the chubby, smiling baby on the label? Gerber hastily pulled all their products and underwent some massive packaging adjustments throughout Africa. I don’t know for sure, but I think the cannibal market really felt swindled.
Whenever you select something, you have certain expectations. Sometimes they are realized, sometimes they aren’t. When Jesus selected His twelve disciples, He had certain expectations, too. As we stand at the threshold of the twenty-first century, His expectations for us are the same as the expectations He held for His first-century disciples. And knowing what His expectations are might help us fulfill them.
Jesus’ expectations for His disciples were many, but a key one is found in Mark 3:14: "And He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him . . ." What do you think it would have been like to "be with" Jesus--to have had front row seats to some of the most incredible experiences humans have ever witnessed? Imagine watching Jesus walking on the water, calming a storm, healing the sick, raising the dead, commanding demons. Remember how Peter reacted after he’d seen Jesus’ transfiguration and His summit meeting with Moses and Elijah? "This is incredible!" he babbled. "Can we set up some tents and stay here for a while?" Day in, day out, the same ol’ transdimensional supernatural overrides of our current time/space continuum. What a blast! Being "with Him" in those days must have been like walking next to a spiritual tornado!
But that’s only one side of the coin. To "be with Him" also meant you’d get to abandon your career. You get to sleep outdoors and travel all over Canaan by foot. You get to be thrown out of synagogues, harassed by religious authorities, abandoned by friends. You get to pick up a cross and fall in line behind Jesus and follow Him to Golgotha. You get to face heavily armed Roman soldiers coming for you in the night. You get to fight doubt and fear when your Master is taken into custody. You get to die a thousand deaths as you run and hide and deny Him and watch Him ridiculed and tortured and executed.
When Jesus calls someone to "be with Him", He calls them to the mountain tops, but He also calls them to the dark valleys of the shadow of death. And you should never forget that it’s a package deal.
In those days, Jesus was localized in one, human body, and He only had three years, and he could only effectively work with twelve people. But now that He has triumphed over death and has access to us through the ministry of His Holy Spirit, He can work with BILLIONS of people simultaneously--and he wants to work with YOU.
He calls you to "be with Him"--not to be on the bench while He’s playing the game. Not to be sitting at base camp while He scales the summit. Not to be relaxing back at the PX while He’s fighting on the front lines. He wants to walk with you in the midst of the flames.
"With Jesus" you are safe and secure and protected, surrounded by His ministering and warring angels, indwelt by the supreme problem-solver of the universe. The roads He’ll take you on may get steep and rugged from time to time. But know this: every experience, every step of the way, every bump and every knock will be specifically designed for your benefit, and for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.
Do you need to meet certain criteria and qualifications in order to be picked to "be with" Jesus? Only one: willingness. Willingness to learn from Him. Willingness to let Him hold the place in your life that He already holds in the universe: Lord and Master. Willingness to let Him mold you into the man or woman He has in mind. Even if you are simply willing to be made willing, that’s all He expects for now. He’ll take it from there.
Special thanks to Gospel Communications Network for the use of the Bible Gateway!
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