By Stewart Holloway
Have you ever choked on anything? I’ve never choked, but I’ve had difficulty swallowing and that was bad enough. Choking or even coming close to choking is no fun.
Yet, every day, people choke on Jesus. They cannot swallow His teaching. They cannot swallow His demands. They cannot swallow the commitment He requires.
In John 6:60-71, we see three responses to Jesus: desertion, devotion, and deterioration.
We want to be devoted, but a lot of people desert and deteriorate. In other words, they choke on Jesus.
How do you know if you might choke on Jesus? Well, one way you choke on food is when it is too much or not what you expect, and that’s usually what happens when people desert Jesus or deteriorate in their faith – He’s too much for them or not what they expect. Typically, it’s not the big issues of the faith that people choke on, it’s the basics.
No one wants to be a deserter! So what do we do? How do we avoid choking on Jesus? We become devoted.
How do you do that? You resolve to do so.
I know of no other way to say it.
You commit.
You’re all in when others are all out.
You decide to follow Jesus, moment by moment day by day no matter what comes along the way.
I pray that will be your commitment this week.
Stewart Holloway is pastor of First Baptist Church in Pineville.
