Discipleship

People do things for a reason.  Shocking I know.  We all are motivated to get up in the morning.  We take care of our families.  We are women who understand the need for mom to be around.  We understand that we are doing our children and husband a great service by staying out of the "work force" and tending to the real work of family life in the home.  We could continue to talk about the host of other things that we do better then the world.  We sure do know that educating our children is important and that we would never put our kids in the devils academy.  I mean can you believe that some people do that?!!!  We are a thinking people.  We make decision based on biblical principles.  Do not sacrifice your children to Molech (or we could say public schools!).  It is really easy to justify and defend why we do what we do.  But I have noticed a temptation here.  Once we make the big decisions, we feel that we are done.   Illustrate this please.  Ok, we know that we need to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  This translates into seeking to educate our children thoughtfully and under God's care.  We pick a good christian school or homeschool to be faithful to this command.  Good and well done.  So we  start our homeschool year.  Or we put them in a good school.  This is not where we end however.  We go from glory to glory all of the time.  We don't figure something out and then have done with it.  For homeschooling families, you constantly have to fight to have Christ at the center of your time, your curriculum and in every lesson that you teach them in and out of the working school day.  Parents of day schoolers have the same battle.  We put our children in school not so that we get some time off  but we put them in school and walk alongside them.  We know the teachers.  Know what the teachers think of our children and work on the character issue that arise.  We constantly make sure that we know what they are learning.  We make sure that we know their friends.  We should know what games their playing at recess.  Who they have issues with and what issues our own children have.  Discipleship is the name of the game.  It does not end when we decide to follow Christ, it is something that we do everyday, every minute. And this is the pattern.  Not to make super godly decision and then idolize them.  Or make super godly decisions and then think we have done our bit.  We are walking, running, fighting, at all times of this Christian walk.  David finds all of the men of battle sitting down and not fighting the nation of Philisti.  David walks in and takes on the giant.  It was good and right for Saul to go to battle with the Philistians.  But when he got to the battle, he sat down and did nothing.  David is the hero, the example in this story.  And David is victorious over his enemies again and again.  We are not just called to make "good" decisions, we are called to get up everyday and walk hard after Christ in all that we do.  If we stay home with the kids, we get better and better at it.  If we send our kids to school, we get better and better at this.  If we homeschool, we get better and better at it.  Christians are disciples.  Disciples follow hard after Christ.  We did decide to follow Christ but we must continue on in our walk following Him in all ways.  Keep making godly choices.  Renew again and again your love and zeal for this Christian life.  Change and change and then change some more, more into the likeness of Jesus.  Our choices may change.  Our choices may stay the same. But in both we should be changing, our hearts should continually be drawing closer to Christ.   We do all things for the glory of God and our hearts being refined is a big part of this.  The disciples dropped all they had and followed Jesus.  But that first day was the beginning for them.  They where not done when they started following Jesus.  We are to be like the disciples.  We begin as they did and drop all we have and follow Jesus. We stay strong in the thick of our troubles and stay by Jesus.  And when our end comes, we continue to walk through the valley of death with Jesus at our side.  They grew stronger everyday they walked with Jesus.  The church was built on their blood.  Did they have any clue about their end in those first days they spent with Jesus? No!!  But God changes us as we stay close to Him.  He makes us ready for all things.  He changes us and puts His glory in and on us.  We are only a light when we stay close to the Sun.  We follow hard after Jesus at all stages of our walks, in all manner of choices that arise.  We do all for the glory of God giving thanks to Him for all things.  And we remember daily that we are going somewhere and that we are meant for glory.

Stay close to God in all of your decisions, new and old.  Make the old new again by continually bringing your ways before God and asking Him to make you more and more like Jesus.