The End Of The Commandment - The Start Of The Walk - Part One

This is part one of a three-part Christian series on learning how to follow Christ through the Holy Spirit instead of the laws and commandments of men.

1Timothy 1:1 ‘Paul, an apostle of Yahshua the Messiyah by the commandment of our Creator and our Saviour and Lord Yahshua the Messiyah, which is our hope; unto Timothy, my own son in faith: grace, mercy and peace, from Yahweh our Father and Yahshua the Messiyah our Lord.’

Often, I think we get so religiously zealous about the words written in the Bible, we tend to overcomplicate them as though they were declarations and constitutions.  Many of the books of the New Covenant are simply letters - letters no different than the letters we write to our loved ones and friends today – no different than these hubs and blogs we take the time to write and read.  Many books of the Bible were not written with the intention that they would someday become the doctrinal declaration for a religious order.  Too many Christians today search the scriptures as if these letters were written down and intended to be a formula for success, a series of bylaws on how best to establish a nation, a religion or a denomination.

Imagine what the future might look like if the things we currently “hub-about” were one day used to become the basis of a sect of Christianity a thousand years from now and people were referring to us as saints according to our screen names?  Think about some of the screen names you have seen.

John 5:39-40 ‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of Me.  And ye will not come to Me, that ye might have life.’

“AND YE WILL NOT COME TO ME”

There is a paradox in the Christian religious community that exists somewhere between the civilized border of intelligence and the desert plains of faith.  While standing in the great city of reason, we often wonder if we “know” enough to be saved.  How much more do we need to learn to feel safe in this world?

And while we are busy learning how to get saved – we forget to simply get off our butts and get out of the city of reason and follow Him.

Matthew 11:28-30 ‘Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.’

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How tired are you?  Has the world overwhelmed you with its great expectations?  Is there no end to how much you must accomplish before you can find rest?  How much wealth will you need before you can settle down?  How much knowledge is it going to take to ease your curiosity about the afterlife?  How much power in this world is sufficient to feel protected and secure?

2Corinthians 6:14 ‘Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?  And what communion hath light with darkness?’

I have a job.  I go to work nearly every day (I have my weekends off).  But you know what?  I’m not married to my work; not anymore.  I used to be.  I used to be a manager and I put in 60-70 hours, sometime 80 or more hours a week.  I was on-call 24/7 - 365 days a year.  I knew everything that was going on and was on top of every crisis.  When I went on vacation, there was no one at my company doing my job.  When I got back to work, my work was waiting for me and I had to catch up and do all the things that didn’t get done while I was away.

Many people are married to their work.  Their “work” has literally become their life.  They spend more time at work than they do with their spouses and children.  They spend more time working for money than praying.  They spend more time working for money than comforting, teaching and healing.  They spend more time working in life because the end result of working is a paycheck – money.  And the more money a person accumulates, the better they think their life will be.  Some even go so far as to think that the more money they have, the more blessed by the Lord they are.

Matthew 4:18-20 ‘And Yahshua, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And He saith unto them, Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men.  And they straightway left their nets and followed Him.’

How many times does Christ ask us in New Covenant Scripture to follow Him?  “FOLLOW ME”

I wonder what your family and your friends, as well as your dearest acquaintances, would say about you, if you suddenly upped and left your “job” to follow a preacher and a healer?  Would they call you’ve gone mad and are behaving irresponsibly?  Would they say you are simply going through a religious phase in your life and will eventually return to your senses and go back to work?

Mark 10:29 ‘And Yahshua answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands for My sake and the gospel’s, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.’

Praise ye Yah – I can truthfully attest to the fact that right now, my wife and I have many more children than we ever gave birth too.  Through Christ, we have young adults who still call us their parents because, in their hearts, we are their parents in the Lord.  They feel loved and they trust us.  They see something, praise the Lord, in us, that gives them a sense of hope they can’t find anywhere else in the world.  We have gained so much, we have received so much through the love and compassion we exercised in the Lord years ago.  It has come back to us “an hundredfold.”

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I assure you that by using Mark 10:29 in this hub, I am not instructing or telling anyone to just pick up and walk out on their families and their homes simply because their life is too hard or complicated.  That is not it at all.  Using Mark 10:29 can often lead to many confusing interpretations.

To comprehend this verse better we have to go back to the events leading up to it.  Before the verse, “there came one running and kneeled to Him, and asked Him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life.” (Mark 10:17)

Even in the most irreligious soul, there is a notion of everlasting life that cannot completely be discounted.  For many it comes through in their works in this world – they want to leave something “lasting” behind, an accomplishment to be remembered by.

Mark 13:2 ‘And Yahshua answering said unto him, Seest thou these great buildings?  There shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.’

Your works in this life are vanity.  Anything you accomplish and create is going to fade away and eventually fall into ruin and disuse.  This constant striving to improve and “grow” in this world is a waste of energy.  When these works are done for mammon’s sake, it becomes a burden, a heavy and weighty obligation that must be fulfilled and maintained despite its flawed and corrupted creation.

We have imperfect nuclear reactors all over this earth that despite all of mankind’s ingenuity and intelligence, are doomed to eventually fail, eventually corrode, eventually disintegrate, and eventually turn the areas around them into a toxic uninhabitable space.  All the maintenance and logic in the world will not prevent this from eventually occurring.

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What we had in Mark 10:17-31 was an example of how carnal man is unable to grasp the freedom to be found in following the Holy Spirit. Mankind prefers commandments and laws – not for himself – but for others.

Yahshua tried to reassure the young man who was concerned about his salvation that He was just fine if He knew and was following the commandments (Mark 10:19). But that was not enough for the young man.

Remember how we started this hub? We were asking, how much is enough? Our salvation can’t be that easy – can it? I have to know more about something. I have to do more.

Matthew 19:20 ‘The young man saith unto Him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?’

You know what? If you want to keep asking and prodding the Lord to expose your flaws - I guarantee He will. And do you understand why He will always find something lacking in you?

Mark 10:18 ‘And Yahshua said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? There is none good but one, that is, Yahweh.’

You’re not good enough to be perfect. You are not Yahweh, you are not the master of your destiny, and you are not in charge. You’re not even good enough to be considered good.

Simply put, you are worthless in and of yourself. Without the Holy Spirit working in and through you, you are pretty much insignificant and valueless. That should be quite humbling. If it’s not humbling, then, like Satan, you got too much pride.

1Peter 1:24-25 ‘For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of Yahweh endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.’

When we go back to 1Timothy now, we see clearly what Paul was saying in his simple letter to his friend Timothy. The living word – the resurrected word – the Messiyah Yahshua – He is our one and only hope.