When you drop your nets on the shore, and follow Jesus, what can you expect?
I’ve already written about the costs and difficulties of discipleship. I’ve mentioned the grace that compels us to continue down the hard, narrow path. I haven’t mentioned the rewards yet, and on this joyful Easter weekend, I think it appropriate to highlight the numerous blessings of discipleship.
Eternal Inheritance
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
1 Peter 1:3-4, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade– kept in heaven for you”
Hebrews 9:15, “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance– now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.”
Forgiveness
Acts 10:43, “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Joy
Psalm 4:7, “You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound.”
Strength
Nehemiah 8:10, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”
Isaiah 40:31, “…but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Peace
John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”
Hope
Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
A New Heart
Ezekiel 11:19, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.”
The Holy Spirit
John 14:26, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”
A Community
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body– whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free– and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Hebrews 3:13, “But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness.”
Gifts
1 Corinthians 12:4-7, “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”
Romans 12:6, “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us.”