Jan 2
Basic Christianity
Jesus In Sandals, Follow Me
Like others in the past, we all have questions that we want answered, but Jesus simply says “Follow Me.” How will you respond?
I’ve been noodling on the idea to do more Christian-based writings over the last 10 years, but I have always put it on the back burner. It has been an inner struggle on what topics I would want to cover and share with an audience that may be global (by nature of the internet), diverse, or possibly antagonistic in this post-truth world that we now find ourselves under.
I didn’t become a Christian until my early 20s and it wasn’t without my own struggles, doubts, and unfamiliarity with the complexity of Christian writings, teachings, parables, and debates. Debates such as old earth vs young earth or how does one have confidence that Christianity is the right religion vs the hundreds of other religions such as Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. And even if you decide that you are going to become a Christian, how does one make sense of all the different divisions such as Catholicism or Protestantism and even the differences between Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Evangelicals and on and on and on.
As I have wrestled with these thoughts on approach over the years, I kept coming back to two scenes:
- Matthew 4:18–22 where Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and sees two brothers, Simon Peter and Andrew, casting nets into the water and says to them “Follow Me.”
- Mathew 9:9 where Jesus was walking and He saw Matthew, the tax collector, and says to Matthew “Follow Me.”
As you can imagine, here are three people that were going about their daily lives and taking care of their individual responsibilities. They had no idea how their day was going to be altered or what could possibly change their daily routine. Then, Jesus approaches them with a simple statement of “Follow Me.” If you are like me, you probably had a million questions that needed to be answered before you dropped everything to follow this man. Who are you? Where are we going? What are we going to do? Do I have time to tell my family? But Jesus just says, “Follow Me,” at which point you have a decision to make.
In my mind, I picture Jesus in his sandals walking through towns, on the beaches, and through neighborhoods just approaching people with love, grace, and mercy saying “Follow Me.” You may have many questions that you want answered and feel you need to have answered before you make the ultimate decision to follow and trust Jesus. I did too and I suspect almost everyone had many questions that needed to be answered before they said “Yes” to Jesus’ “Follow Me.”
The answers will come over time and I hope that I can be a part of your journey. My hope and prayer are that my writings will be in a format that doesn’t require you to be a Theological Seminary Student trying to learn all of the nuances, but we develop a conversation over the weeks, months, and years. I’m going to ask the Holy Spirit to guide me, and I already have a few writings that I’m hoping to address first:
- God or Jesus: Where Should the Discussion Start?
- Jesus: Historical Person, Deity, or Not a Real Person?
Likewise, I want to address some of the meatier and more sensitive topics such as:
- Do Christians and Muslims Worship the Same God?
- Christian Responsibility vs Government Responsibility in caring for the Widows, Orphans, and the Poor.
- Investing, Saving, and the Christian Response.
I hope the writings will be of value to you and I would like to ask for you to follow and share the journey. I also pray that if you are seeking answers that you don’t delay accepting the invitation from Jesus to “Follow Me.” It is ok to have doubts, but don’t let the doubts cause you to stumble and lose eternity with our Creator.
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:11–13)
Today is the day that Jesus is walking in his sandals and is approaching you to open your heart to answer the call, “Follow Me.” Will you accept this invitation?
Prayer
Lord, our Father in Heaven, I come to you and ask you to bless the person reading this post today. I ask that you soften their hearts, open their minds, and give them the desire to accept you and to get to know you. We are a stubborn group that are prideful and shortsighted many times. I ask you to help the seeker find you and I ask the believer to grow closer to you. Thank you for your blessings. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for Jesus.
Reading
I would like to ask you to read the Book of John. You can read it on the web or download the iOS or Android version of the Bible App.
Thank you for reading. I would like to ask for you to follow me as I shift my writings to Medium. I love to write about money, politics, and religion. All of the taboo topics. Please think about following:
Stephen Legler on Medium — Where you will see all of my writings on the above topics.
Jesus In Sandals on Medium — A specific landing page for my Christian-based writings.
Jesus In Sandals on Facebook — The Facebook page to share articles and have a discussion about the simplicity of following Jesus.
