This isn't for quitters

Have you ever started a project, job, sport, or discipline only to quit before you were finished because it was too hard?  My senior year in high school I went to work for a lawn service that was owned by a good friend's older brother.  After giving almost every afternoon and Saturday for a month, I was not enjoying the job at all.  I reasoned that since it was my senior year, I shouldn't have to devote that much time to a job that was just taking away from my last bits of valuable high school life.  So I quit.  People get knee deep in commitments all the time before they realize that what they have given themselves to is difficult and demanding.  The temptation to quit and walk away can be overwhelming, even justifiable in some situations.

Being a follower of Christ is hard.  But it's not for quitters.

Jesus brought to us some teachings that were more than difficult to follow; they seemed almost impossible.  Yet He did this so that we would fully rely on His power and not our own to be disciples that might bring Him the highest glory and honor possible.  In John 6:53-58 Jesus ramped it up a notch.  He told His followers that unless they were willing to eat His flesh and drink His blood then they could not have life in Him.  Many were confused at the difficulty of this teaching and as a result several of His disciples "turned back and no longer accompanied Him." (John 6:60-67) 

I know that if I am hearing something like this for the first time it might make me a little bit hesitant too.  It is at points like this where the masses will either follow a leader or abandon him altogether.  Jesus even explained to them that the words He had spoken "are spirit and are life" (vs. 63), yet even when they understood that He spoke figuratively they still weren't willing to embrace the full commitment of their lives that He was demanding of them.  Instead, they walked away from a teaching and a way of life they perceived to be too hard to follow. 

They quit Jesus.

I have run into people over the years who tell stories of how their lives used to be "on fire" for God but now that fire barely resembles smoldering ash.  Work, school, relationships, personal goals, etc., have taken precedent and they simply didn't have the time or desire to give Jesus their all.  Jesus warned His followers that they must count the cost if they were going to be His disciples (Luke 14:25-33).  It is not easy.  Being a follower of Christ is demanding, challenging, and even frustrating at times.  Yet it's the most beautiful relationship one can possibly fathom.  Like any relationship, it requires hard work and patience to see it grow, but grow it will, for Jesus promises to draw us to Him if we seek Him with all our heart (John 12:32).  Don't throw your hands up and walk away before you taste and see just how glorious Jesus truly is.