I know, I know. You’re probably thinking somewhere along the lines of “what in the world is this about?” Well, do me a favor for just a moment. Put all your worries about my mental health aside, and just stick with me. This could be life changing, and I don’t want you to miss it!
Now, let’s get to it!
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Just the other day in Sunday School, we were going over the story from 1 Samuel 6 about the Philistines sending back the Ark of the Lord to Israel.
Sidenote: If you have not read this story, I strongly encourage you to pause and go check it out real quick before you continue here. It won’t take you very long, and it may help you have a more clear understanding of what I am trying to get at.
While reading through the passage, I thought nothing of the two cows pulling the cart. I read along just like any other time. I thought I would come to the same conclusion of “God is awesome, and He brought himself back to His people.” Or at least something along those lines. God felt differently that day, and wrecked my plans. I should probably be more prepared for that by now after reading scriptures like Proverbs 16:9.
My entire perspective on the story changed after one simple phrase. “I sure do feel bad for those cows.” My gramps, who was teaching the class, was referring to the fact that the cows did all this work and then were sacrificed to the Lord at the end.
After I heard that statement, God brought the question to my heart of “why?” He then opened my eyes to an amazing picture. Those two cows were the perfect example of how to live for Jesus. As weird as it sounds, we should be modeling ourselves in a similar fashion!
Think about it! The cows had just had two calves. Instead of turning around to go back to their family, they left everything behind. They faithfully walked forward, undoubtedly following the direction of God. These two cows had no idea where they were headed, but they kept walking. The story also says that they had never pulled a cart before, so I am sure they endured some discomfort. Finally, once they reached their destination, they gave their lives as a sacrifice to God. The whole time, the cows could have turned around and gone back to the calves. However, they understood who their Master was, and remained loyal and true to His mission for them.
Now, read that again. Take the cow part out, and input yourself. Is that not exactly what it looks like to be a faithful follower of Jesus? Amazing, right? Yeah, God works in some amazing ways.
After reading through that passage with that perspective, I realized that following Jesus is simple. So simple that even a cow can do it. However, don’t mistake the simplicity for ease. As we can see from this passage, following Jesus will also call for us to sacrifice some things in our lives. It will cause discomfort, but when you live with an eternal mindset, this life becomes nothing but a speck in the sand.
So some of you may be thinking that this is a great point and all, but now what? What am I supposed to do with all of this mind blowing knowledge? I’m glad you asked.
We can always start with a few of the most simple commands that Jesus gave. The first two are right next to each other, found in Matthew 22:37-39. It boils down to this: love God and love people. Everything else will fall into place if we can live out these two commands.
The next is found in both Matthew 28:18-20 and in Acts 1:8. Jesus simply tells us to GO. So for those of us who claim to be followers of Christ, we have been commanded to be moving, get out of our comfort zones and share the Good News. To refer back to the cow example, the Good News is like your Ark that you are delivering to the people. It is your job to follow God along the path, and allow the people to receive the Ark.
It is clear from these few passages that following Jesus does not mean finding a place to settle. It means having the obedience to get up and go. It also means a little bit of discomfort from time to time. We will never reach the ends of the earth with the Gospel by sitting down. So, I hope today you will hook up to your cart and simply ask Jesus, “Where are we headed?”
