Why People Lose the KingdomSample

PUTTING GOD ON HOLD

MAIN IDEAS

• Jesus calls two people to follow Him, but each of them postpones the moment due to an emergency. Jesus says they are not worthy of the Kingdom.

• Another man expresses his wish to follow Him, but Jesus tells Him He has nothing worthy on Earth to give to him. Earthly pursuits are not a priority for the Kingdom.

• Jesus sees the wish of the “sons of thunder” to destroy the Samaritans who had rejected Him as the influence of an evil spirit.

Another reason that leads to people not entering the KINGDOM is putting GOD on hold. Postponing GOD is an indirect way of rejecting Him. The two people JESUS invited to follow Him did not categorically reject Him; they recognized the value of discipleship and even promised to come and follow Him later. The problem was that there was something that “came first” before following Christ. JESUS’ answer is that when the KINGDOM is not your first priority, you are not really worthy of it.

We also have a person who does take the initiative to follow JESUS. We could say that this man made the KINGDOM his priority. But knowing his heart, JESUS tells him He cannot offer him any of the Earthly benefits. A way of putting the KINGDOM second is to pursue certain Earthly benefits from it.

We also have the incident involving the Samaritans who refused to host JESUS in their village. The “sons of thunder” do not want this rejection to go unpunished. JESUS’ answer is that He has not come to kill but to save, so these people deserve another chance. The two were not random people, but two of the twelve disciples – people who had spent time around JESUS.

Through his nature, man has his own agenda and is ready to exact revenge on anyone who doesn’t serve him, while the spiritual man understands any circumstance and accepts it as it is. As the Godly man is led by the Spirit of GOD, so the natural man is led by the Devil.

The fact that a person has been going to church for a while is not a clear indication of his spirituality. Being born again and walking in the Guidance of the Holy Spirit is the true confirmation of spirituality. At that moment, the two disciples were not yet born again and they were thinking with their nature; at Pentecost, when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, they did serve with all their love, and in the end, they were willing to die as martyrs.