So what’s your motivation for following Jesus? Is it for the blessings you will receive? Jesus once said, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Lk 18:29-30)
But this was stated after the disciples left everything, not before. Why did they leave their fishing nets, jobs, and families to follow a Rabbi from Nazareth? They followed because they believed He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Son of David who has authority to command. The disadvantage of living in a democracy with a “we the people” mentality is that we’re not used to being told what to do. Yet when we pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth (and in us) as it is in Heaven” we are really asking a King to have his way.
The rich young ruler was a moral man, a law-abiding citizen who had obeyed the law of Moses since he was a boy (see Lk 18:1-25). But he could not be a disciple until he followed the instruction of the Christ. If he had sold his possessions, given the money to the poor, and followed the Master, it would have all been worth it, but he could not give up his stuff. God’s main goal is not that we be healthy, wealthy, and wise by human standards, but that we know him… which equates with eternal life. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3)
Look what the King did for us: Motivated by love, Jesus died for all the world and now He calls his followers ‘friends.’ Should He not be all the motivation we need? When the Lord says, “Follow me,” He is telling us to love others the way He loves us. May we say ‘yes.’
“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other the way I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:9-15