About

There I sat. Pen in hand. Contract before me. All I had to do was sign my name my whole life would radically change forever. If I signed, minutes later I would be ushered into a room with others who also signed up, and I would be sworn in to the United States Air Force. What does my story have to do with being a Christian? We hear a lot about following Jesus. But what exactly does that mean? And what does it cost us? What of ourselves do we get to keep versus what is offered to him? much we really give up everything. If so, why? We'll talk about it next, on Thy Kingdom Comma. Welcome to Thy Kingdom Comma. Thy Kingdom Comma is a Christian living blog and podcast dedicated to engaging conversations about applying God's Word to everyday life. Thanks for joining us for today's episode. I'm your host, Anthony Russo. And it's my hope that you will be encouraged and God will be glorified. And with that, let's start the show. My Air Force Story I was 19 years old. I was working in the mailroom at a software company. I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. So I talked to an Air Force recruiter. Next thing I know I'm up there and I go through the physicals and I do all that stuff. It was a whole overnight thing. And the moment comes the contracts in front of me. It required everything of me for four years. In exchange, they give me food, clothing, health care, education, benefits, direction, etc. But it would cost me four years of my life. I stared at that paper and I couldn't sign and I told the recruiter, I'm really, really sorry, but I just can't do this. Now looking back, I do regret not having done that, for years would have passed in a heartbeat. But to a 19 year old guy, to me anyway, it seemed like an eternity. I mean, it was after all 25% of the life I'd already lived! Following Jesus According to American Christianity Too often in American Christianity, we're invited to follow Jesus. And it's kind of the same thing. It's, it's almost baited by the many same kinds of incentives. God will take care of us. There are all these benefits to it. There's direction and all these sorts of things. And nowadays also in churches, we hear about prosperity and health and peace and so on. Many people find out after the fact that following Jesus requires much much more of them than they were ever honestly told. And like the crowd to eventually cooled on their enthusiasm for Jesus and His earthly ministry. Many today walk away like I did from the US Air Force. So what does it really mean to follow Jesus? What are some ways the Bible explains it? What is to be our guiding motivation? Well, we'll talk about it after the break. If you like what you're hearing, would you sign up to get email updates? You'll get them find out whenever a new episode or a blog post appears. All you have to do is go to https:/www.ThyKingdomComma.com and sign up. You'll receive a PDF of a month long devotional that goes with the reading of the gospel of John. It's yours FREE when you sign up. What Does It Mean to Follow Jesus? What does it mean to follow Jesus? Here are some thoughts that I had about this. I was just kind of thinking back on that and if I had to tell myself 15 years ago when I became a Christian, what all it would encompass? We could only cover just a little bit here. Take Mary's Advice I think of Mary's statement to the servants and caner at the wedding when they needed more wine. And Mary said to them, Do whatever he tells you. And really, that's the crux of what it is to follow Jesus, we do whatever he tells us. What Jesus' Rebuke Teaches Us about Following Jesus I think of Jesus, his rebuke to Peter and Matthew 16:23, Jesus turned to Peter and say, "Get behind Me, Satan, you are a stumbling block to me. You do not have in mind things of God, but the things of men." Following Jesus is to have in mind the things of God." Denial and a Cross And even in the next verses,