Jesus, why do you say stuff like that?

So a question I've always asked myself is why do the letters of the new testament get so much more attention than the gospels? And as I'm reading through Mark, I think I'm getting an idea as to why. Paul's letters talk a lot about God, and the gospel. Who God is and What God has done... and how we should react. He gives us warm encouragement and nice, fluffy ideas to wrap our heads around. Pray unceasingly... that's cool. Live quiet lives of purity... sweet. Armor of God... awesome. Devote yourselves to God in worship... mmmmm....

Whereas Jesus, well... he's a straight shooter. And to his audience, it quickly becomes clear that the Kingdom of Heaven is something incredible. And if we are to walk in line with the principles and morals of holiness... it will be incredibly difficult, if not impossible. It becomes clear that we fall short of what this man is asking of us. Jesus tells one of the greatest stories ever depicting unconditional, selfless love- and then says,

"Go and do likewise."

...are you serious? Well... the answer is yes. YES. Jesus says, "You wanna follow me? Well, if you want to follow after me, you must deny your own life from youself. Tell yourself that you have no rights. Put yourself on death row for MY sake, and follow me. Because if you're trying to save your life, you've already lost it. You know where life comes from? From me, and from my gospel. And if you are ashamed of me, and of my words... and turn to live in all this wickedness and sin, well... I'm gonna dis you... I'm gonna disown you- in the presence of the God that made you and you'll never know what it's like to know Him. But- ...I'm telling you the truth when I say that some of you, on this earth, are going to see that very God working miracles. Follow me."

-(that's Mark 8:34 - 9:1... the PraiznAznVersion...)

Jesus wasn't trying to fill seats in churches, or make people feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't come to "encourage". - **side rant** The word encourage means to spur someone on to do something that takes faith, or guts, or determination. It is to urge someone onward to actions they may be fearful of doing. However, when we say encourage, so many times it just means "to make happy". That was encouraging. Thanks for that, I'm encouraged. Jesus' encouragement is less like a butt pat, and more like a butt kick. **end side rant** Jesus was about saving the world. And Christians aren't just the saved. They are messengers, ambassadors, and witnesses who must herald the beautiful message of the gospel to the corners of the globe.

And Jesus knew that this wasn't going to be easy for us. And if we are loved by God, and if we love Him, and if we want to please Him, and live for Him, and learn from Him, and enjoy His rest, and look to Him for strength... well we've gotta take His words seriously.
Becuase they are words that call us to the service of the King of Kings. Of course they wouldn't be easy.

So let's let our bibles read us. Let's let the Christ's teachings read us. Let's watch the word of God precisely display for us the seperation between soul and spirit. Let's realize the difference between our standard of living, and truly living by faith. And let's fill our minds with whatever is pure, whatever is holy, whatever is worthy of praise... and let's think on such things. And then let's obey- not by might, not by power, but by the Spirit of the Living God. That's what's up.

Can you fit your body through the eye of a needle? God can. And He's doing it now if you let Him...