The "Go" of Relationship

"If we are to be disciples of Jesus, we must be made disciples supernaturally. And as long as we consciously maintain the determined purpose to be His disciples, we can be sure that we are not disciples. Jesus says, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you . . ." ( John 15:16 ). That is the way the grace of God begins. It is a constraint we can never escape; we can disobey it, but we can never start it or produce it ourselves. We are drawn to God by a work of His supernatural grace, and we can never trace back to find where the work began. Our Lord’s making of a disciple is supernatural. He does not build on any natural capacity of ours at all. God does not ask us to do the things that are naturally easy for us— He only asks us to do the things that we are perfectly fit to do through His grace, and that is where the cross we must bear will always come."

- Oswald Chambers

The walk (part II of III)

This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God. - 1 John 5:3-5

About 2 years after I accepted Christ, I somewhat began to drift away from Him. I thought my salvation will never be jeopardized; even when I no longer continue on the road of discipleship. In other words, I believed that I can be saved and yet not being a follower of Christ. I’m a part-time Christian; living like I’m not a believer. My life stopped changing; produced either no fruit or bad fruit, and served only my own pleasures and not those of God. I was so certain and confidence that there will be no consequences to what I’m doing and I simply just don't care! I was fooling myself about my salvation and little do I realized that I was falling into apostasy.

Later, things begin to really fall apart, little by little like the work of termite. Frantically, I look everywhere for answers, quick fixes, and shortcuts; that don’t seem to exist. After all the exhaustion and desperation, I realized I came to a dead end. And at this time, He came for me. Welcoming me back with His open arms.

My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. - John 10:27-28

Through the whole experience, I saw a merciful God that loves me so much despite my deliberate action to walk away from Him. As I reflect on John 10:27-28; I realized that salvation and discipleship are both the same. We can't separate them. We can't claim to know Christ and not love Him; we can't love Him and not follow Him.