The Hard Lessons pt. 1

John 6:60 "On hearing it [the message Jesus taught], many of his disciples said "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"... "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him."

Woah. These were disciples. Not just random people hearing Jesus for the first time. They had been with JESUS. In the flesh. God. The epitome of Love. Jesus. Yet they turned back and no longer followed him. After one hard lesson. OUCH!

I'm not gonna lie. When I read passages like this, they get to me. That is tough! How can people, who are considered disciples, so easily turn away from Jesus? They aren't just church hopping. They aren't just taking their ball and going home. They are walking away from... God. Jesus just let those disciples quit.

Why would they quit?

• A lot of them may have realized He wasn't who they thought He was. They were expecting the Messiah to come in the form of a conquering King. Jesus wasn't who they expected. Following Him didn't live up to their expectations.
• A lot of them might have felt like their requests and needs weren't getting met (selfish maybe?).
• A lot of them might have thought His words were offensive and had trouble understanding things like faith vs. deeds or what He was trying to get across.

It's so easy to be tempted to turn away when Jesus' lessons are hard. Will you give up? Will you ignore what you don't like about Jesus and what he challenges us in? Will you reject the one true God?

Have courage. Jesus teaches us hard lessons sometimes, that's nothing new. It's so easy in this day and age to give into the easy way out, to make excuses and reason to yourself why "giving up everything to follow Jesus didn't really mean "everything""... or did it. He is Holy, set apart, and has to set us apart so we can be with Him.

... verse 67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

When hard lessons in life happen, which perspective will you have? "there is no where else to go but with you Jesus" or "this is too hard, I quit". Jesus is the Holy One of God. I hope I can walk with Him through the hard lessons of life.

Read more in The Hard Lessons pt. 2