Today I was reading a book called
Not A Fan by Kyle Idleman, and I thought that he makes a really interesting point.
He tells us that God is not about popularity. When Jesus fed the 5,000 starving people with a few loaves of bread and two fish, he did not do it because he wanted them to follow him. In John chapter 6, it tells the story about how Jesus performs a miracle. He reaches out to the hungry and feeds them. He then he crosses to the other side of the river and his hungry 'disciples' follow Him. But Jesus did not feed them again. Instead, he tells them that he is the bread of life. He
knew that those people sought Him because they've witnessed Him performing a miracle. They were not seeking Him because they wanted Jesus; instead, they wanted what Jesus could
do.
Jesus reaches out to the people in need. Think about it, we are like those hungry people. When we are dissatisfied or unhappy with something in life, we want a cure, a solution. Many times, we turn to God because we know that He can perform miracles, or at least 'some' people believe it and we are just desperate enough to attempt calling out on Him. Some people in this world are witnesses to God's answers. We either personally know situations where he has helped us, or have heard about them in testimonies. Either way, it is believed that he can perform miracles.
And when these miracles are 'believed', Jesus becomes more and more "well known." People begin opening their hearts to the possibility that maybe, just
maybe Jesus can help them and perform miracles in their troubled lives. But here is the utmost point that Kyle makes in his book.
He
does not care about the
number of people who follows him. He cares about their
hearts.
Let us think about it. We are like those hungry people. How many of us believe, or want to believe that Jesus can be the solutions to our life problems?
But exactly how
many of us go to Him because we want to be
closer to Him, to
know Him, to
trust Him, to
depend on Him, and to
want Him in our lives? And then I ask, how many of us go to Him because we want Him to help us, to be the answers we've been waiting for, to be the miracle and hope in our lives to solve our problems?
I just want to say this one last thing. Jesus is not a
pawn in our life. We cannot go to Him and ask Him to help us, but then deny Him when we don't need Him.
We are the ones who are supposed to be used by Him so we can let others know about His love, the Truth and the Word; not the other way around.
So please, before you ask God for something, think about
why you are asking Him. Are you asking Him so He can just answer another one of your prayers, or are you asking Him because you want to get closer to Him and give Him just a little more control over your life? Seek Him for the right reasons.
Does it surprise you that Jesus wasn't all for popularity? What does it mean to you to know He never acted out of gaining notoriety but instead out of love and service?
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