Now I See

Jesus taught His disciples about the true meaning of surrender in Luke chapter 9 - He said:
(22) "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day."
23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?

Jesus calls us to a life of complete obedience - our good works cannot and do not save us. But, I believe we provide strong evidence that we are saved when we live a fruitful life. If we claim to have "accepted Jesus," but we deny Him by our behavior, then one has to question the sincerity of the original commitment.  Paul challenges us to evaluate ourselves, and we can examine our own fruit in order to make sure that we are living a surrendered life. 

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Jesus invites all to come to Him - He gave His life so that we, by laying down our lives and surrendering to Jesus, can be saved and walk in a relationship with Him. Luke 14 states:
16 Then He said to him, "A certain man gave a great supper and invited many,
17 and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, 'Come, for all things are now ready.'
18 But they all with one accord began to make excuses.

Later in the chapter, we read that the servant reported to the master that there was still room. The Bible says:
23 Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
24 For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.' "

The Robertson family has certainly made an impact on our culture - Duck Dynasty, which you could safely say, is an American institution, and the television program was only the beginning. And, of course, one of the "dynamics" of the "dynasty" is the Robertson's trust in Jesus. 

That starts with Phil and Miss Kay and has been passed on from generation to generation. Recently, Kay wrote a piece on the blog hosted by her granddaughter, Sadie Robertson Huff. According to Movieguide, she related:

“When I was young, my Nanny told me that one day I’d have to fight for my marriage,” Miss Kay explained in a recent post for granddaughter Sadie Robertson Huff’s Live Original blog. “As a little girl, it didn’t make much sense to me. I had read lots of fairy tales, and none of them included a woman having to fight for anything. I didn’t know it then, but my Nanny was right.”

The article went on to say:

She recalled being “teenagers in love” with her husband Phil but shared that, 10 years on, he was “doing almost every terrible thing under the sun.”

“Everyone I knew told me to leave him,” Miss Kay said. “But our story didn’t end there. After a decade of living inside a nightmare, Phil finally let God into his heart, and our lives changed forever.”

Miss Kay shared that the recent biopic THE BLIND “embarrasses” her husband “because he doesn’t like to remember that part of his life…but Phil also wants people to see his story, to see that no one is too far gone for God.”

She added, "...“I want the women out there who are hurting because their husbands are hurting to know that there’s always hope in Jesus."

The Movieguide piece related that in a recent Instagram post, Miss Kay wrote, “I love Phil, and I really want y’all to know that the hard years were worth it to get to where we are today,” adding, “Our early years were messy, and I never dreamed our family would turn that story into a movie. But the Lord really does turn messes into messages, and THE BLIND movie is proof of that. If the story of Phil’s wild, godless years can help point people to Jesus, that’s the story we’ll keep telling.”

A previous Movieguide article featured the Robertsons discussing the film; Phil was quoted from Instagram, stating: “I’ve never been the type to sugar coat something, especially when it comes to the depth of my sin. When we agreed to do this film it was based on the understanding that we would tell it as accurately as possible in order to show the greatness of a God who redeems the worst of sinners. I was the worst of sinners. I was blind, but now I see!”

The Bible is clear - no one is beyond the saving hand of Jesus Christ.  No one.  He died for all.  As Tenth Avenue North reminds us, everyone is "Invited."

But, not all will be saved.  Some will reject Him.  

Because, we have to meet His conditions. The gift of salvation is free, but it's not cheap. We are called to give our all, to humble ourselves, to be willing to lay down our lives and allow Him to change us. We have to confess "Jesus is Lord" and believe that He is risen from the dead.  I've heard the term, "lordship salvation."  But, salvation is Lordship. 

And, it's more than just lip service.  We have to follow the "true" Jesus - He Himself warned us in Scripture that false Christs, false Messiahs would come.  There are "other" so-called "gospels" in our world today.  That's why we have to earnestly contend for the truth.

Remember, while we are invited, even welcomed by Jesus, that doesn't mean that we can try to mold Him into our image and construct in our hearts and minds a false god.  We must respond to the one true Jesus, who calls us to admit and repent from our sin.  He doesn't condone our sin - He provides a way to overcome it through His power.