If any man...

"If any man..." - these familiar words of Christ are the beginning of His invitation to JOIN HIM... but to join Him in what?

"If any man FOLLOW..." As a young boy I answered the Call of Jesus to follow Him into Service. For me, "If any man follow me" and "If any man serve me" were one and the same.

But they are not.

But didn't he say to follow Him so He could make you a "fisher of men?" Not so fast.

Service for Jesus is NOT my life's end, as I once thought it to be - it is the product or result of following, but it IS not following. Following is fellowship with the one you are following, and in that fellowship comes obedience, and out of that obedience, and only out of that obedience, comes service. Service that does not flow out of fellowship and obedience, may be 'good service' but may not be what He is asking me to do!

Oswald Chambers writes, "Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ." While I and anyone who may be reading this would certainly agree with that statement, it was the next sentence that nearly fell me out of my chair:

"The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him."

I would have thought that sin, worldiness, and any of a list of vices would be the biggest competitor to devotion to Christ, and so I fought those daily and found comfort in my victories... I never considered that my hyper-insane-drive to SERVE HIM might turn out to be a competitor to devotion and fellowship with Him!

Oswald continues, "The ONE AIM of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him." Again, I would have said my one aim to love God (as evidenced by my service to Him) or sanctification... (becoming more like Him... trying to 'be good') But the purpose of my creation was not to merely love or to be good, it was to discover an intimate relationship with my Creator. Yet, I have been so busy and exhausted serving Him, that I never had time to simply enjoy Him.

Oswald concludes, "Are we being more devoted to service than to Jesus Christ?" I know I was. And it about killed me. Elsewhere, OC writes, "As workers for God, we have to learn to make room for God." It is rradically ironic that our lives can become so full of ministry for God, that God can get crowded out. We try to impress God with all we do for Him, and He is asking only for us. God has shown me, acutely, that he wants nothing I can do for Him. He only wants me. Through that relationship, he will use me for His purposes in the Kingdom, but His first purpose is simply me - to teach me how to walk with Him in daily intimate fellowship, for THAT is what we were saved for in the first place... not that we might get busy serving Him. It was the loss of personal fellowship with our Creator that the Cross fixed, not a need to work. It is so painfully clear now. I finally understand why all I have accomplished I consider now rubbish, to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ.

Jesus never said, "Come, Serve Me." He said, "Come, Follow Me."