Thought for the Week - 18/4/2021

Dear Friends, 

I read the story this week of the Grand Chessmaster Anna Muzychuk who is refusing to play in Saudi Arabia because of the restrictions she would face, including having to be escorted by a man if she were to leave her hotel and having to wear abaya. She said, ‘I will follow my principles and not compete in the fast chess and blitz world championship where in just five days I could have made more money than with dozens of other combined tournaments.’ She continues, ‘In a few days, I’ll lose two world titles, one after another, because I have decided not to go to Saudi Arabia’. Giving something up, for whatever reason, is costly, whether it be in financial terms, status, or even losing friendships and family support because of a decision we take. I wonder what you would be willing to give up in your call and obedience to follow Jesus? In Luke 18 we read the story of the Rich Young Man who comes to Jesus asking, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus tells him that he must obey the commandments which the young man say he does, and then he tells him to ‘sell everything you have and give to the poor, and then you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me’. When he heard this, he became very sad because ‘he was a man of great wealth’. In an article entitled, The Call to Follow Christ, the theologian John Stott says, Jesus ‘asked men and women for their personal allegiance. He invited them to learn from him, to obey his words and to identify themselves with his cause’. Earlier in Luke’s gospel we read of the cost of being a disciple and Jesus says, ‘whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple’, and ‘those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciple’. It is clear then, that following Jesus is not for the fainthearted.   

Grace and peace,

Neil 

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