Today’s 333 Devotional: “Not A Fair Weather Follower”

As I look at a group of Philistines I see what is means to become a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ.

King David was going into exile to avoid a civil war with his son, Absalom. As he was leaving Jerusalem he moved to the side of the road to see who would follow, and while he saw many he knew he was amazed when he saw a group of Gittites. They were Philistines; the tribe of Goliath, and a group of them had become exiled and had just come to Jerusalem the day before.

Instead of choosing to stay behind and ingratiate themselves to Absalom, they chose rejection, privation, and exile. They chose to dedicate themselves to the cause, even if it meant leaving the comforts of the palace.

Look at what they said.

“As the Lord lives, and as my lord the king lives, surely in whatever place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also your servant will be.” (2 Samuel 15:21)

This is what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, a Christian, a Christ follower.

A disciple of Christ is no fair weather follower. Their declaration of loyalty isn’t when things are going well, but rather when everything is going wrong.

What these Gittites believed was that it was better to be right and with the King than it was to be with an upstart. They believed that it was better to be with the few than it was to be with the many who rejected the King.

And isn’t that the way it is with our declaration of loyalty to Jesus. To identify with Jesus is to be rejected. It is to choose the narrow road, which few find, verses the wide road that many choose that leads to destruction.

Jesus said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me,” (Luke 9:23)