Live Free with Josh Howerton - Do You Want to Leave, Too? | Ep. 263 | Wednesday, February 7, 2024

Episode Date: February 7, 2024

Jesus asked His disciples a question that we often come face-to-face with in our own lives: “Do you want to leave, too?” Just as the disciples may have been tempted to abandon Jesus in the hard times, things will happen in our lives that are painful and difficult. It is in those moments we have to remember, as Peter did, there is no one like Jesus. No one else offers us eternal life and unconditional love. For more information, visit lakepointe.church/dailydrive

Thanks for tuning in to today's Daily Drive with Lake Point Church, a daily dose of God's word for your morning drive. When the word, not the world, becomes the majority of your week, your life will start to change. For that reason, our prayer is that God will speak to you through today's devotional. For more digital content to feed your faith, visit lakepoint.comit. And now let's dive in to today's devotional. Hey, what is up, everybody? Hope you're having a great week. My name is Mike, and here on the Daily Drive, I am your lift driver, or something like that.

You may be listening on your daily commute to work or school, or you may be like a student named Madison that I heard about who wakes up every day to this podcast. So, Madison, it's time to get out of bed. Since January 1st, we've been walking through a book of the Bible known as the Gospel of John, which just means the good news about Jesus. So many cool stories and amazing miracles that show that Jesus, that Jesus, was who he claimed to be. John is an up close and personal eyewitness, and he says he wrote them all down so that we might believe and have life in the name of Jesus. And we left off yesterday with these crowds unfollowing Jesus because he wasn't going to feed them like he had miraculously done before. There were expectations from the people on who and what the promised Messiah would be

like. And Jesus had to resist their expectations of a political ruler, an economic savior, a military conqueror, his entire ministry. And he does it again here. by pointing them toward true hunger and the way that he alone as a bread of life could satisfy their soul. He foreshadows the cross by talking about his torn flesh and his spilled blood, and it weirds them all out. And they say, Jesus, been fun, love the miracles,

all this crazy talk, though, about flesh and blood and death. Can't go there with you, sorry to do this, but got to unfollow. And because I know how I personally might have reacted in the moment, you know that the 12, his closest disciples, as they were watching the crowds turning to leave, they're thinking, you know what? Maybe we should unfollow too, because obviously the majority must be right.

And it's so cool how time after time scripture says that Jesus knew what people were thinking ahead of time. He knows your heart, he knows my heart. And he would sometimes ask a question before they even had time to articulate one, and he does it here. He turns to his guys and says in verse 67, You don't want to leave too, do you?

You don't want to leave too, do you? You guys aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are you? You guys thinking about checking out, too? And I can imagine their heads down, they're shuffling their feet, their nervous, are taking deep breaths. They don't want to do with their hands. You guys thinking about leaving, too? And, gang, I'm telling you, this question is so relevant for us.

There's really going to come a day. It might be during some kind of transition, maybe from middle school to high school or from high school to college when you join a fraternity or sorority, and you're sitting in a class where the professors making fun of you for believing all the fairy tales you believe. And when you take a new job or you move to a new town, all of a sudden you're surrounded by all these new people

who don't believe the same thing you believe about God and Jesus and life. In fact, in the new environment, it's not acceptable to believe. And in those moments, you're going to feel so alone and so isolated, you're going to think about hitting unfollow. Or it's going to be you finally get an invitation to a wild party, that crazy spring break trip you've been hearing so much about, and in those moments you start thinking, you know what?

Jesus is just kind of getting in the way. He is so inconvenient. Faith is such a drag. He's what's keeping me from experiencing so much fun and so much freedom. And even though there's a whole bunch of us who would want to scream at you, oh man, come on, don't fall for those lies because we've been there. You will wreck your life. Only Jesus brings real freedom and fun and fullness to life.

Still in those moments, you're going to be tempted to hit the unfollow button. Or maybe during a tough time in your life. Going through some hard things, the cancer isn't healed, the miscarriage just keep happening, you feel like God isn't close, and you feel like God's not answering your prayers, at least the way you think he should. And instead of trusting his unfailing love for you and leaning into him for strength and peace that he gives, instead of resting in the promise of hope and heaven in those moments, you will be tempted to unfollow.

And I'm telling you because I've been there, in those moments Jesus will look at you with eyes of love and will whisper in your spirit. You're not thinking about leaving too, are you? He asked guys like Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew, you, is this too costly? Is this too hard? You're thinking about bailing out? You want to do your own thing? Do you want to unfollow, too? And it's Peter, who often blurted out the wrong thing at the wrong time, who gets it right this time. And his question is a question that you and I will have to come back to time and time again during those times of transition, temptation, or trauma.

When we're about to bail on the whole following Jesus thing, Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Where else we're going to go, Jesus? Who else is there? We've seen way too much. For starters, you just fed over 5,000 people with two fish and few loaves of bread.

We got 12 basketfuls of leftovers in the boat. And then you walked over here on the waves. I even walked out to you last night. You rescued me from drowning. You speak truth like no one we've ever heard. You embody love and compassion like nobody we've ever seen. You include everybody. You always keep your word.

I've already scrolled through all the options. To whom shall we go? To whom shall we go? And before you and I would ever walk away from following Jesus, we've got to ask the same question. To whom shall we go? Where else? What else?

Who else? I can imagine Peter saying, Jesus, you alone. You have the words of eternal life. You've invited us to live forever. Nobody else could do that. I don't quite understand. all to eat my flesh, drink my blood stuff yet. But I'm sure I will someday.

But I do believe you are the bread of life that came down from heaven so we could live forever. And personally, I'll never forget when you stopped by the beach that day. James and John and Andrew and I were cleaning our nets, and you invited us into an adventure that was bigger than our lives. You invited us to play a part in the epic story of God. You invited us into a life of passion and purpose. You told us that we could be history makers. So where else we're going to go?

Jesus, I would rather die for something to live for nothing. And yeah, it's sometimes hard, sometimes it's confusing, I still don't understand your strategy. I don't get the way you're going to pull off your kingdom on Earth, or what your kingdom will even look like, but leave? Walk away? Unfollow? No way.

To whom shall we go? Gang, you and I have been invited to follow the savior of the world. The maker of the universe. The one who holds the keys to life and death, the one who came back from the dead. He is the bread of life. He is the light of the world, the miracle worker, the breath in our lungs is a miracle,

the salvation of our souls is a miracle, our transformation is a miracle, our sobriety, our freedom, our friendships are a miracle. And Jesus has invited us into something that is bigger than ourselves. We get to do things with our lives that will last forever. We get to touch the lives of people in profoundly eternal ways, and if you walked away, you would not say, I am so glad I quit following Jesus and went after the money, when after the cars, the fame, the highs, the unbridled sexual exploits, all the temporary thrills that leave a person empty.

He is called you and me into a life that matters, into a purpose that is so much bigger than our pleasure, our comfort, our appetites, our self. And if you would choose to unfollow Jesus, you would step away from real life. And you would lose your identity, your purpose, your passion, your perspective on life, your compassion for other people, your reason for living.

and Peter realized that and says, we have come to believe and know. We know you're the Holy One of God. Jesus, we've heard way too much. We've seen way too much. And not just with our eyes, but with our hearts. We know. We've experienced you every day.

We know that you are the promised one. So if we did leave like those people are leaving right now, we'd all be back in a couple days. I mean, to whom shall we go? If you're wavering in your faith right now for whatever reason, that might be a great question to ask yourself. I have. I personally think about this in tough times when I've been tempted to hit the unfollow button.

I think, you know what, Jesus performed miracle after miracle. He fulfilled every prophecy written about the promised Messiah. He touched people in ways that no one else ever has. He broke down social, racial, economic barriers that existed. He stood up to injustice. He reached out with compassion, gave people, dignity and hope, he spoke truth that has set me free. He went to a cross and laid down his life because he loved me. He came back from the dead that proved that whoever believes in him

would live forever too. So where else am I going to go? He alone has the words of eternal life. He alone satisfies my craving for meaning. He alone sustains me when this life gets hard, gives me peace in the middle of chaos. He alone fills the hole in my heart. He alone quenches my thirst for meaning and satisfies my hunger for more. I have. I, I've considered all the options. To whom shall I go? The invitation to follow Jesus is open to everyone. He's the real deal.

And John says, I wrote all this stuff down so that you might believe. Follow him, and you'll have life in his name. Have a great day. See you back tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in today. For more biblical teaching and worship, join us for our church online live weekend services. on Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 9.30 and 11 a.m. Central Standard Time. For more information, visit lakepoint.comte.com slash daily drive.