Tony Campolo was once preaching to a wealthy Presbyterian church on the West Coast.

He said, “In the next hour, 5,000 children are going to die of starvation, and most of you don’t give a s*&t. And what’s really sad is that more of you are upset that I said s*&t than that 5,000 children are going to die. Now, let’s talk about the nature of obscenity.”

God declared through the prophet Isaiah long ago, “Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when you see the naked, clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like noonday” (Isaiah 58:6-10).

“The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the LORD commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. So they quarreled with Moses and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’

Moses replied, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?’

But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, ‘Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?

Then Moses cried out to the LORD, ‘What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ The LORD answered Moses, ‘Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you stuck the Nile, and go. I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.’” (Exodus 17:1-7).

Observation:
At the command of the Lord, the Israelites camped, but there was no water to drink. You’d think that if God commanded a camping spot, there’d be plenty of water, as well as a buffet line and waiters to bring them coffee and dessert. You’d think if God planned it all the logistics would have been taken into consideration and a catering company would be waiting for the Israelites as they arrived.

Application:
There will be times, even though the Lord leads us, when we will find ourselves with sparse resources. Not enough money. Not enough help. Not enough encouragement. But it doesn’t mean that God is not in the situation. Being patient comes hard when I am thirsty after a long trek. We can react prematurely, jumping to the wrong conclusions about how God is working. In doing so, we make the desert a hotter place than it needs to be. 

God is not finished yet. Think about it – God had water stored in a rock!

“Come, follow me” (Matthew 5:19a).

If you’ve been around church much, you have heard this a thousand times.

But here’s the million dollar question: what if Jesus literally meant for us to follow him? What if Jesus really meant that we are supposed to follow his example, his spirit? What if Jesus literally meant that we are to value the people he valued and serve the people he served?

The way we live our lives – including me – doesn’t really reflect this reality. We seem to be quite okay with going to church regularly, going to Bible Study or small group, and then basically living our lives the way we have always lived.

Dallas Willard, looking at the modern church in America wrote: “One is not required to be, or even have to have the intention to be, a disciple in order to be a part of the church. One may remain a member without any signs of progress toward discipleship. Contemporary Western churches do not require following in Jesus’ example, spirit, and teachings as a condition of membership. So far as the visible Christian institution of our day are concerned, discipleship clearly is optional…churches are therefore filled with ‘undiscipled disciples.’ Most problems in contemporary church can be explained by the fact that members have not yet decided to follow Jesus.”

Yikes!

The call to discipleship is and has always been, “Jesus declared, ‘Come, follow me.’”

Have you made the decision to follow Christ?