Sermons

Introduction

So please, open your Bible with me to Luke chapter 10; and as you open, let me pray for us.

[Prayer] Father, thank You for Your word, for these sacred and holy Scriptures. Lord, how helpful they are for our lives, how they instruct us and reprove us, how they correct us, Lord, how they equip us to live in righteousness, to live the way You expect in those good deeds and works that You've prepared for us. How lost we would be without Your word, Father. This morning, give us hearts to listen. Increase our desire to not just hear Your word but be doers of Your word. Father, as we will study this morning, for those of us who belong to You, thank You for the joy that it is to belong to You. Thank You that our names are written down in Your book of life, that our names are recorded in heaven. What joy there is in following You. Thank You, Jesus. And it's in Your name we pray these things. Amen. [End]

"Follow Me. Follow Me," says the Lord Jesus Christ. "Follow Me" is the phrase that Jesus often used when calling disciples. The phrase, it's the request He gave when calling His first ones. In Mark's gospel, chapter 1, verse 16, it says, "Passing along the sea of Galilee, He" – Jesus – "He saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, 'Follow Me. Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.'"

"Follow Me," Jesus said. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Well, in Mark's gospel, just a few verses before that interaction, we have the main message of Jesus' ministry. We have sort of the synopsis of His preaching, the summary of what it was that He came proclaiming and teaching. Mark 1:15, Jesus says, "The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." "Follow Me," Jesus said. And for anyone who wanted to do that, well, this is where you have to begin. This is where it has to start: repentance from sin, turning from sin. And not just that, also, belief in the gospel. Trust and faith and belief that Jesus was going to bring good news to sinners.

The gospel would be made clear at the end of Jesus' ministry. He would lay down His life, He would shed His blood so that sinners could be forgiven, so that sinners could know salvation and that they could actually now follow Him. Those who would repent, those who would believe, they could follow Jesus. That was the good news. Sinners could be forgiven. They could be saved from that judgment that they deserved. And those who did, Jesus invited to follow Him.

It wasn't just Peter and Andrew and Luke. The gospel we've been studying here, chapter 5, verse 27, it says, "After this, Jesus went out and He saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax booth. And He said to him, 'Follow Me.'" John 1:43, "The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, 'Follow Me.'" What an invitation.

Of course, the longer those initial twelve, what would become apostles, the longer they spent with Jesus, the more time they spent with Him, hearing Him preach and teach with credible authority, watching Him heal and do miracles that just absolutely stunned them. They had front row seats to that, the teaching and the miracles. It was impossible for them to miss. It became more and more clear who Jesus really was.

Luke 9:18, "It happened that while He was praying alone," – this is Jesus – "the disciples were with Him. And He questioned them, saying, 'Who do the people say that I am?' They answered and said, 'John the Baptist. Others say, Elijah. But others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again. And He said to them, 'But who do you say that I am?' And" – in Luke 9:20 – "Peter answered and said, 'The Christ of God.'"

And that response by Peter was exactly right. That response by Peter was a bullseye. Jesus, He was the Christ, He was the promised Messiah, the King from the line of David, the One sent by God to crush the head of the serpent, and Peter was beginning to realize that. And it was that response by Peter that led Jesus to say again in verse 23 of Luke 9, "Follow Me." This is what it says: "He was saying to them all, 'If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.'"

Jesus begins to explain what it is to truly follow Him. We get a little more clarity here. To be a disciple of Christ, to be a Christian. It's not about repenting once. It's not about believing one time. You have to get this. Jesus, He doesn't just want a moment of your life. It's not a one-time prayer of confession of sin. It's not a one-time prayer of profession of faith. When Jesus invited someone into His kingdom, it was, "Follow Me." And when Jesus announced and initiated the arrival of His kingdom, it wasn't a momentary, singular event that He was after. Receiving His offer of salvation and accepting this gift of forgiveness that He's offering, claiming this good news for yourself, it meant that you had to follow Him and follow Him for good.

Jesus didn't ever want just a moment of His disciples' lives, Jesus was asking for the rest of their lives. He wanted a carefully thought out and understood commitment of a lifetime: "If anyone wishes to come after Me," Jesus said, "He must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it."

Following Jesus is going to require some self-denial and some sacrifice and some submission to Christ, losing your life. That's what Jesus says: "This is going to cost you everything. This is going to cost you your life." And He wanted His disciples denying self for life. He wanted submission to Him for the rest of their days. This is what He wanted, His disciples to have that kind of attitude every single day for the rest of their lives. He wanted them to be repurposed. He wanted them to be reprioritized, to be willing to risk everything and to do that every single day, to follow Him for life.

And this is important; that hasn't changed. When we think about our discipleship, when we think about our following of Christ, Jesus hasn't changed His expectation. "Follow Me," Jesus says, and He says it still. He says it to you and me in this invitation. It's not just for apostles, it was His message to any who desire to be His disciple. Jesus wants you to follow Him, and He wants the same lifetime commitment from you. If you would follow Jesus, this is what He wants. He wants repenting from sin for life. He wants you following Him as Lord for life. He wants obedience to His word for life.

He wants you living by His Spirit for life. Jesus calls for fullest devotion to Him, and He calls for permanent following, and He's always pushing the seriousness of following Him. We saw that in chapter 9 as well. Three examples, starting in verse 57: "As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, 'I will follow You wherever You go." The crowds, they heard what Jesus was saying. They heard it, they understood, they got it: "Jesus wants me to follow Him. I can do that, I want to do that," or so they think.

Jesus' response in verse 58 of chapter 9, "Jesus said to him, 'The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.' And He said to another, 'Follow Me." But he said, 'Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father.' Jesus said to him, 'Allow the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God.' And another also said, 'I'll follow You, Lord, but first permit me to say goodbye to those at home.' Jesus said to him, 'No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.'"

So, here is the hard truth, there's no sugarcoating here. This is difficult call to discipleship by Jesus. "The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. Allow the dead to bury their own. No one after putting his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom."

What is Jesus actually saying here? He wants you to understand the cost of truly following Him. It doesn't come with promises of comfort. If you follow Jesus, don't expect ease. Don't look for worldly luxury. If you follow Jesus, the time is now. You can't wait until you're financially secure. You can't wait to get everything just right to decide to follow Him. It's not about an inheritance. You don't need X amount of dollars to be comfortable and to be a disciple before you choose to follow Him.

Following Jesus, it's about prioritizing your relationship with Him above your family, above your friends, above your spouse, above your children. Jesus wanted His disciples to know the cost, that you can't have a divided heart. Jesus isn't sharing the top spot in your life. He wants you to follow Him.

Now, I'm sure you heard that as you went through chapter 9. Jesus may give you comfort. He may bless your life with incredible financial resources. He may fill your home with rich relationships galore. But the point is you're not negotiating those things with Jesus in order to follow Him. You follow Him regardless. Jesus is your priority. You gladly follow Him for life.

Jesus gave the rich young ruler that same invitation. "He said, 'If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor and you'll have treasure in heaven; and come follow Me.' But when the young man heard the statement, he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property." The rich young ruler left Jesus' invitation to follow. He went away, it says, sad. His heart was divided. He was unable to share that top spot. He was unable to yield it to Jesus because he was following something else already.

So being a Christian, here as we come to chapter 10, we're getting closer, but we're starting to hear this and feel this in Luke's gospel, that following Christ, it's not easy, it's getting tough. Following Jesus, even He wants us to know it's hard. And it gets harder. There are some who actually say to Jesus, "Yes, Jesus, we'll follow You." In fact, there are 70 in chapter 10. Verses 1 to 12 of chapter 10, they're just loaded with lessons for disciples: "There will be hardship and difficulty." Jesus sends out these pairs of disciples with His message and His power.

Look at verse 9 of chapter 10: "Heal those in those towns that you go to. Heal those in it who are sick and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.'" It sounds a lot like Jesus' message because it was Jesus' message. They were preaching the kingdom of God. They were preaching that same gospel, good news truth about repenting from sin and following Christ.

But Jesus tucks in that commissioning all of these warnings: "You're not going to be alone," – verse 1 – "but you're going to be outnumbered. In fact, there are so many who need to hear the gospel," – verse 2 – "that you need to pray and pray a lot for help and for more people to join you. And it's dangerous." – verse 3 – "You'll be like lambs in the midst of wolves." I don't have to explain to Texans that that's not good, you know that.

You're not going to be comfortable." – verse 4 – "You'll have to depend on God to supply all your needs." There's a sense of urgency: "Don't be distracted. You have to be content with where you are." – verse 7 – "Don't look for something better, be satisfied with where I've sent you. Know that some will receive you," – verse 8 – "and some will reject you." – verse 10, and notice – "You're not going to be able to tell who's who." They don't have special glasses. Jesus isn't going to make it clear. Their responsibility is to go, be faithful, to do this job that Jesus has given them to do: "Be faithful. Preach My kingdom."

These seventy teach us that it's costly to be a disciple. It's dangerous and it's difficult following Jesus. Pastor MacArthur says it this way" The cost is everything, to become a disciple." You sacrifice your life at this point, and then you live out that living sacrifice by putting your life on the line to go out and proclaim the gospel of Jesus, exposing yourself to danger, forfeiting self-reliance with a single-minded focus, accepting any and every condition the Lord might bring you, confronting sinners, which is very difficult, and being rejected. And then having to pronounce judgment on them makes matters worse. By the time you get down here to verse 16 of chapter 10, you've gone through all this stuff, and the whole picture of discipleship is, "It's pretty daunting." Who wants to follow Jesus?

We're about ready to ask ourselves that very question as we get to our text this morning starting in verse 17. And Luke, he knows that. He knows it, which is why our text this morning is so helpful, undeniable that following Jesus is hard. But equally undeniable is that following Jesus is worth it. I want to show you this. There is immense joy in following Jesus. The cost does not even come close to comparing to the reward.

How do I know that? How can I say that? Well, look at verse 17: "The seventy returned with joy." The seventy not only genuinely embrace this invitation to follow Jesus, but they understand the commitment to self-denial, to sacrifice, to submission, to losing their life, and they embrace their mission to go out and proclaim the gospel and to do that knowing they would be like lambs among the wolves. They go even with all these difficulties. And it says in verse 17, "They returned to Jesus with joy." Hearts full of happiness. Hearts rejoicing.

Yesterday on my flight here, I got to the gate in Burbank and heard some kind of disappointing news from the gate attendant: "Flight's pretty full" – kind of used to it – "pretty full. We'll do our best to get you on and loaded and get out of here." And I boarded kind of middle of the pack. I'm not A1 to 15, no, middle of the pack. Several people had boarded this plane before me, and as I got on the plane, the front row's wide open. I look around and I look to make sure something bad hasn't happened in this front row, and I think, "This is awesome."

And I sit down, and my heart is full of joy. And I wait and I assume and expect what's coming my way, which is one, if not two more people to sit in this glorious front row with extra leg room. People walk by me and they pass by me. I'm not scowling, I'm not trying to be an unhappy passenger, I'm ready to share it. No one sits in the front row. I have it all to myself, my heart leaping with joy. I get to sit in the middle, 6' 2", it's hard to fold up and put in one of those smaller seats. I'm just overjoyed.

The point is, that kind of joy doesn't even come close to the kind of joy that's here. That's amazing. But this is top-tier joy that the disciples have. It's amazing joy that they have. What happiness was theirs. What rejoicing was theirs. They're amazed at all that they had seen, all that they had done. You can imagine this scene back from their mission trip. There'd be so much to report and talk about; and yet the length of their trip, it's not important, the details are not important, who they talk to, the stories of rejection or, of course, stories of people actually coming to saving faith.

The people they stayed with, the weird foods they might have eaten, none of it matters. Only this statement matters to Luke: "Lord, Jesus, we can't believe it. It's amazing. Even the demons are subject to us in Your name." But joy was theirs. How did the seventy have such joy? How can you have the same kind of joy following Jesus? Well, it starts with understanding what they were actually doing.

The Purpose Of Our Mission

How can you have this kind of joy? I have three points for us this morning. Let's call this first one "the purpose of our mission, understanding the purpose of our mission," verses 17 to 18: "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!" And He said to them, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning."

I believe it's helpful to highlight a few things here because our passage mentions them: demons and Satan. The Bible speaks to both of them; unpleasant, but still helpful to understand. God wants you to know that the devil, the snake that he is, Satan is an enemy of God. Genesis 3 makes that clear. He is God's great enemy, which then means he's the enemy of Jesus.

He's also the enemy of the Holy Spirit. He's an enemy of the word of God. You could think of the parable of the sower. That parable, the sower is casting seed, which Jesus explains is the word of God, and that seed falls on the hard ground, the hard heart. And what does it say? The seed is immediately snatched away and taken away. By whom? By Satan. He's an enemy of God's word.

He's an enemy also of the people of God. That's why Paul instructs the Ephesian believers in Ephesians 6:10, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Our struggle is not against flesh and blood," Paul says, "but against the rulers and powers and world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." Satan's an enemy of believers.

He's also an enemy of everyone, even unbelievers. First Peter 5:8, "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Second Corinthians 4:4, "In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who's the image of God."

The Bible makes it clear, that verse in 2 Corinthians 4:4, it's very clear. Satan is powerful. He is the ruler of the darkness of this world. He's the god of this world, and he's the one who loves to diminish God's glory. And he does that by keeping unbelievers blind to the gospel. He does that by keeping as many people out of God's kingdom as he possibly can.

Satan sinned against God, desiring to make himself like God, receiving glory and praise that was reserved for God. He initiated his rebellion against the Almighty. Revelation 12 tells us, as he's being cast out of God's presence he takes a third of the angels with him, a third of the stars. A third of the angels, they rebel as well, and they become the devil's fallen angels. They become those who operate with him.

No need to worry, I know it's unpleasant to think about our great enemy who deceives us and accuses us before the Father, this enemy who lies and murders. He's appropriately named the evil one in 1 John 5. But we know not only his end, but even his thousands of fallen angels. Jesus tells us they will meet their end in the lake of fire. Matthew 25:41, Jesus says, "He'll say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.'" We know their eternal end.

Temporarily, we also know some great truths. We don't need to worry about this evil army. God comforts us in His word with truths like 1 John 4:4, "Greater is He who is in you than he who's in the world." Nothing to fear, the devil and his minions. They have a powerful work in this world, and it's exactly why Jesus came, 1 John 3:8, "The Son of God appeared for this purpose to destroy the works of the devil."

And how would He do that? How would Jesus destroy the devil's work? He came telling people to follow Him. He came telling people that "the kingdom of God is near. Believe and repent. Follow Me." And after His resurrection and ascension back to His Father, Jesus' plan was to equip His disciples to continue His mission. They would now have to be the ones telling people, "Follow Jesus." They would have to be the ones to continue what Jesus began. They would have to be the ones to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world, as Matthew 5 says. They'd have to shine, as Paul says in Philippians 2, "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world."

God's people are to play a role, a significant one. They are to play a role bringing to completion this work that Jesus began. They are to be the ones setting others free from the stronghold of Satan to keep people blind to the gospel. And the Gospels at first, Jesus was the only one doing that. He was the only one freeing people, the only one adding to the kingdom of God, the only one waging war and destroying the devil's work. But now Jesus began to delegate His power, and He gave it to the apostles at the beginning of chapter 9.

You're in chapter 10. He expands it more to the seventy, this first batch of missionaries. They're empowered by Jesus to heal the sick and preach the gospel. These seventy, they have power that Jesus had, power that He gave to the apostles, and it's clear that these seventy know it. Look at verse 17 again: "The demons are subject to us in Your name! Power in Your name." It's the key phrase, this power, because of Jesus. It has nothing to do with them.

It could be power to cast out demons like Jesus gave the apostles in chapter 9. But notice, Jesus doesn't say that in their commissioning in chapter 10. He simply tells them to "heal the sick, proclaim the kingdom," verse 9. It seems that it was the power through their preaching of the gospel that delivered people from this demonic influence.

It was the gospel. That was the power that Jesus gave them. And doesn't that seem likely, since that's still what we're called to do today? We don't have the power to heal or cast out demons. But as disciples of Jesus, we're still called to engage in the Great Commission. We're still to be salt and light. We're to be useful to the Lord. We are what He uses to set souls free. It's the same fight against the evil kingdom that Jesus came to fight. Jesus came to ultimately win. Freeing souls is what we're supposed to do as well. It's the purpose of our mission. We are to still do this in Jesus' name.

Ephesians 1:20 talks about our Lord Jesus after His death on the cross, being raised from the dead and exalted, and He's given power over all powers, including demonic powers of the universe. Jesus triumphed over all the powers of the evil one through His death, through His resurrection. And now listen to this, verse 22: "He put all things in subjection under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all." Christ is the head, and the power flows from Him to His body, to the church. His power's still at work in us today, not to cast out demons, but to proclaim the gospel. This work that Jesus began, we are to set souls free from the domain of darkness by telling everyone everywhere, "The kingdom of God is near; follow Jesus."

And what joy is ours when we serve the Lord like that, isn't it? Joy is ours, seeing people come to life, seeing people come to the light of the truth of the gospel, seeing their life begin to be transformed and changed. What joy in seeing souls being set free. You do that when you live for Christ in action, in word, in thought. You're an aroma of life.

I love being a middle school pastor. It's a different aroma with middle schoolers. But I love seeing those young teens get the gospel. I love seeing them understand their sin. I love seeing them want to do what God calls them to do and truly follow Jesus. There's no greater reward than seeing people come to faith and be set free. The disciples are overjoyed as they tell Jesus what happened, and Jesus responds with, "I was watching Satan fall from heaven like lightning."

So many people are confused about this verse. I was for the longest time, too. I would have absolutely bet the ranch that there was some connection to Isaiah 14:12 and Satan's initial fall. But that's not what's happening here. As my Hebrew professor would say to us over and over and over, "Verb tense matters."

"I was watching," Jesus said. It's imperfect, which means continuous. Sorry to nerd out, but it matters. "I was watching. I'm still watching and watching and watching." What is it that Jesus sees? Satan's kingdom is diminishing.

Jesus, the master illustrator, chooses lightning. It's like this: one flash at a time. Satan's kingdom is crumbling: flash, flash, flash. This isn't A Wonderful Life thing, like every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. It's not lightning as someone being set free from darkness. But it is a wonderful picture that Jesus gives us of souls being delivered.

Jesus says, "I was watching. I saw it." Citizens were being added to the kingdom of God. "I saw," Jesus said. "I was watching the whole thing. His kingdom of darkness was being destroyed a little each time one of those souls entrapped by sin and by the devil's work. Each time one of those was set free, I saw it. I saw his kingdom being destroyed." And with that picture, of course, the seventy rejoiced. What a mission. What a joyful purpose that we have in our mission, setting souls free from the sinful darkness of this world; arguably, no greater purpose.

The Protection Of Our Savior

There's more that would give us joy and help us to see why following Christ is so worth it. Number Two, "The protection of our Savior." Verse 19, "Behold, I've given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you," Jesus says. Serpents and scorpions, those are words, biblical words for demons. You see that in Revelation 12 and also chapter 9.

God's word here, it's making clear we are their enemies. They long to attack us. They live to persecute us. They are thorns in the flesh. They serve at the pleasure of their master who is all those things. Jesus says, "Behold, look, listen, this is important." That's what "behold" means: "This matters right here, what I'm about to say. I've given you authority." Another important word, it's a perfect – which means it's something that happened in the past that has ongoing effects. "I have done something here. I've given you and permanently given you authority over them. Nothing shall injure you. They want to. They want to stop you. But get this: they can't."

Protection of our Savior offers those who follow Him; it's remarkable. It's why He promises us that He's greater and why nothing can stop Him. Nothing can interrupt His love. Nothing can interrupt His protection. Romans 8:38, "I'm convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, or things present or things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Demons, spiritually, they can't do anything to you. They can't undo your salvation. They can't erase your name from God's book of life. They can't kill you. They can't control you. They can mess with you, but all of that's under the sovereign care and permission of God.

That thorn in the flesh, it's refining, it's sanctifying. It may be the very tool that God is using in your life to grow you and change you, teach you. Trials and tribulation and trouble – you'll know days like that. You've known them, and you'll likely know more. You'll have days when you relate to Paul or Peter, maybe even Job. It's a nonstop spiritual battle, but God allows only that which He is using for our good and growth. Second Thessalonians 3:3, "The Lord is faithful, and He'll strengthen and protect you from the evil one."

The Priority Of Our Joy

What spiritual protection is ours? It's remarkably worth it to know our purpose, know our protection. There's such joy in following Jesus. And let me give you just one more: "The priority of our joy," verse 20, "the priority of our joy." Verse 20, Jesus, after all that, He says, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven."

Even though these two realities are incredible, even though they're such reasons for joy and rejoicing, Jesus says, "Don't just limit your joy to this great work. Yeah, this is good, it's amazing. But you want to know something really amazing, something really joyful, something that should make you, cause to just jump out of bed in the morning? It's this: your name is recorded in heaven above. Your name is in the book of life." Can you imagine hearing Jesus say that to you?

I mean, I work with middle schoolers. By far, their greatest question is always about assurance, always wrestling with it, always trying to figure out what sin means and what's going on and, "How many times do I have to confess and repent and trust in Jesus?" I know it doesn't stop in junior high; adults do the very same thing.

These seventy are likely the only ones who never wrestled with assurance. "Your names are written in heaven above. It's permanent," Jesus told them. "You belong to Me. There's something coming so much better and greater and joy-filling than this amazing thing here."

Yes, as a believer you can experience some pretty amazing moments here in this life, the opportunity to help someone come to the Lord. I mean, it'll put wind in your sails for years. The opportunities we have to fight and make a difference in the spiritual battle are amazing, incredible to know our purpose, to know the protection that's yours. But those are temporal. Neither of those compare to the eternal award that awaits. You're bound for glory. You're destined for an eternal home.

You should have the same assurance as those Jesus told their names are written in heaven above, because if you're following Him, your name is there, too. Your name is recorded, and that book is written in permanent ink. There's no pencil in God's book. Jesus says in Revelation 3:5, "He who overcomes will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not erase his name from the book of life. And I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels."

Conclusion

Is following Jesus difficult? Sure. But asking, "Is it worth it?" seems to be a question of someone who doesn't understand the joy that's theirs, knowing their name is written above.

Some of you likely have really rewarding ministries in whatever area you serve the Lord. Some of you, I'm sure, have such joy serving Him, and you love to do that and do it faithfully, and you see fruit so frequently. There's such joy in that. I'm with you. I agree, Christ can do way more than all that we ask or think possible. The joy that we have here in serving the Lord, it far outweighs the difficulties. The comparison, it isn't even close. Yes, following Jesus is hard, but the hardships are manageable, especially as the Lord fills our life with grace, especially as He overflows our cup, as He does with goodness and kindness.

There is real joy in serving the Lord, and you might not see the role that you play in how it aids in someone coming to Christ. But if you're following Jesus, it's there. If you belong to Him, then you're a part of the body. Your role may be small, it may seem insignificant to you, but Jesus tells us that every part matters. Every part matters in this fight against the kingdom of darkness. Every part matters as we rescue souls, as we set them free. The body can't function without you. Ministry doesn't happen the same way. The impact wouldn't be what it could if you weren't serving how you did.

How joyful to contribute to someone coming into the kingdom. And Jesus is joyful about it in the next verse, verse 21. But that's not my passage so it's off limits. But there is joy in following Jesus. joy in serving Him. But I want to leave you with this thought: far greater than what God might do through you is what He's already done for you.

Yes, what you do down here, it matters, but your name is written in heaven above. Don't let serving the Lord take the place of your devotion to Christ. Don't let working for Him cause you to stop following Him. Don't be distracted by ministry. Don't be preoccupied with serving that you neglect what matters. Follow Jesus and get as close as you can. Follow Him and know that it's proximity to Him that matters. It's closeness to Him that counts. It's joy in Jesus that should be our daily desire.

The psalmist writes, Asaph, in Psalm 73, "Whom have I in heaven but You? And beside You I desire nothing on earth." That should be the song of our heart. "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from You will perish; You've destroyed all those who are unfaithful to You. But as for me, the nearness of God is my good."

Follow Jesus. Undeniable that following Him is hard; but equally undeniable is that following Him, it's so worth it. Follow Jesus. There's immense joy in it. Follow Him as close as you can.

[Prayer] Father, thank You for this needed reminder. We must admit that our hearts, Lord, they are prone to wander. It's easy for us to lose our focus, to prioritize even good things like serving You; yet, Father, help us to never let that become our priority over You. May we never prize deeds that we may do over our destination.

God, thank You for the joy You bring in serving You, the joy that's ours knowing we are a part of Your kingdom work. Thank You for the protection You give us as we serve You; may we do it faithfully. And, Lord, may You keep our hearts close to You as we hold to this wonderful truth, that for those who truly follow You, our names are written in heaven above. Thank You, Jesus, for that truth. We pray in Your matchless name. Amen.