"What is your passion," he asked. "What is your vision?" Each person in the room shared their passions such as worship, fashion, orphans, missions etc... "All of these things that you've shared are good," he replied to us. "You know what my passion is?" Silence filled the room as we all began to wonder… Was it carrying the cross just as he had been doing for over 25 years? Maybe it was his family? He glanced around the room a few times and smiled from ear-to-ear. "My passion is Jesus Christ."
He went on to tell us a simple concept: vision is what you see, what you see is what you look at, what you look at is what you focus on. When you make Jesus your vision you "take up the cross". He explained that taking up the cross means to sacrifice willingly, which brings glory to God, thus bringing redemption in the lives of others!
He shared a story with us about when he traveled to Guyana. As he continued his journey of carrying the cross, a man who had listened to him teach wished to speak to him, but he was timid because they were of different cultures and religions. Keith proceeded to ask him what religion he thought he was. He responded with, "Well, sir, you are carrying a cross, therefore you are a Christian!" Keith smiled and said, "No, I am a follower of Jesus." The man told him he had never heard of that before, so Keith decided to tell him all about Jesus and repentance. The man immediately fell to his knees and said, "I want to know this Jesus you speak of! I want to repentance!" Keith asked him a simple question. "If I was to walk down the road this way, and you were to walk down the road that way, would you say we know each other?" The man replied, "No, we would have only just met." Keith went on to explain that that is what a lot of Christians do. When they accept salvation, they first meet Jesus, but it’s something entirely different to know Him. It is not enough to find Jesus; we are commanded to follow Him.
Keith then challenged us: Do we really know the Jesus that we say we are following? Do we have a deep connection to Him? Are we committed to Him? Commitment looks like the object or person it's committed to. If you're not committed to him, then what are you committed to?
I feel that many times, we get so caught up in completing the goals and dreams that are placed in our hearts, that we forget about who gave them to us. True Christianity is about knowing and following Jesus, not just finding him.
Mark 1:17, “Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men!”
Written by Joy Wimer, Go Intern
