Lionheart

I recently encountered some extremely legit Bible heroes in the book of Luke.  These guys are not your typical heroes–they didn’t slay a giant, win an important battle, or perform a miracle.  Rather, these guys were obedient to Jesus.  Luke 5 has two amazing examples of individuals who obeyed Jesus, no questions asked.  The first deals with Peter, James and John.  At the beginning of the chapter, we see Jesus speaking to the crowds in Galilee.  The place is so crowded that he has to get into one of the boats and put off into the sea in order to speak to them all.  Jesus then instructs Peter to put down his nets even though Peter had fished all night.  Needless to say, Peter’s nets fill with fish to the point where he needs help from his friends, James and John.  All were amazed at the catch of fish.  Peter even told Jesus to leave because he was unworthy of being in his presence.  Jesus simply told the guys not to be afraid and that they would catch men from that point forward.  The next verse is so crucial; verse 11 says: “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.”  That is absolutely amazing.  Just because of a word from Jesus, they pulled their boats on the shore and left everything behind.  At first glance this just looks like they stopped what they were doing for the day and followed Jesus.  On the contrary, fishing was their life.  It was all they had.  It was the source of their well-being, stability, and money.  Without fishing, they had nothing.  Yet, because of a Word from Jesus, they ‘left everything’ and followed him.  According to the Word, they didn’t even bother to put their nets away.  They put their livelihood down and followed Jesus.

A similar situation happens in verse 27-28 with the calling of Levi, or Matthew.  Jesus walks up to him at his tax booth and tells him to, “Follow Me”.  The Word says that Levi got up, left everything, and followed Jesus.  Once again, we have an individual who is challenged to leave everything and follow Jesus.  Levi had it all–in this society the tax collectors had money.  Also, they were in good standing with the Romans. Yet he forsook this lifestyle in order to follow Jesus.  He, like Peter, James, and John gave up his livelihood in order to follow Jesus.

Decisions like this are few and far between in our society today.  What would the world be like if we actually took Christ at His word and were willing to move when he says move.  What if we really left everything behind in order to follow Jesus.  These heroes dropped their lives for Jesus.  They gave it all up.  Are we willing to do the same?  Could we follow Jesus and drop our lifelines all at Christ’s Word?  Could we give up our well-being, stability, and money in order to follow Him.  It is my prayer that we all would see these chances as opportunities for Christ to show up and show out and that we would be willing to take Jesus at His word alone.

So I just finished Dave Ramsey’s ‘The Total Money Makeover’ the other day.  I have to say that it was awesome.  I first heard of Dave last October at Catalyst 2008.  Since then, I have been following Dave via podcast and his daily radio show, The Dave Ramsey Show. Dave’s story is absolutely phenomenal from his rise to millionaire status in the real estate industry, to filing bankruptcy and losing everything, to seeking God and paying back all of his debts.  His story is so encouraging.  In his book, ‘The Total Money Makeover’, Dave outlines some crucial steps and keys to getting out and staying out of debt.  These clues are what he calls the ‘Baby Steps’.  That is exactly what they are–they are small steps toward financial freedom.  Dave’s plan is not a get rich quick scheme or some cheap gimmick.  It is a proven plan for financial freedom.  It works because it focuses on behavior modification.  You have to learn to ‘Live like no one else, so you can live like no one else’.  You have to learn to be disciplined, dedicated, and committed to being a good steward of the blessing of money.  I would definitely suggest this book to anyone and everyone that any kind of interaction with money–Dave truly lays the wood and  a lot can be learned from his principles.