I usually keep my Friday posts pretty fun but this one captured me today. I was surfing YouTube for something totally different and got caught up watching clips of “The Jerk”. While this movie was wildly funny, this clip left me feeling pretty guilty. At the beginning I was laughing. At the end I was sole searching. Funny how you can find inspiration in the most unlikely of places.
As to not take anything away from the clip, I’ll just frame it for you. When I think of the disciples, they are usually brought into the story by “leaving all they had” or “leaving their nets and followed him”. There was no hesitation. There was no carry-on bag for the trip. They left it all. Jesus himself said “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also“.
What hit me about this clip was how in the beginning he was willing to give it all up. But as he walked away, his “stuff” got more appealing. I had to laugh and wonder if this isn’t what I look like to God sometimes. “Lord, I don’t need this stuff…well, except that…that’s all I need to follow you”. This was a gut check for me. It was a reminder that following Jesus requires giving up everything, even the little things. I realized today that when God watches my “obedience” to give up my “stuff” to follow him….I probably look like a jerk.
AARON CONRAD 