From Christian Quotation of the Day

When the Bible speaks of “following Jesus”, it is proclaiming a
discipleship which will liberate mankind from all man-made dogma,
from every burden and oppression, from every anxiety and torture
which afflicts the conscience. If they follow Jesus, men escape
from the hard yoke of their own laws, and submit to the kindly yoke
of Jesus Christ.

But does this mean that we can ignore the seriousness of His
command? Far from it! We can only achieve perfect liberty and
enjoy fellowship with Jesus when His command, His call to absolute
discipleship, is appreciated in its entirety.

Only the man who follows the command of Jesus without reserve, and
submits unresistingly to His yoke, finds his burden easy, and under
its gentle pressure receives the power to persevere in the right
way. The command of Jesus is hard — unutterably hard — for those
who try to resist it.

… Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), The Cost of Discipleship

Christianity is not a voice in the wilderness, but a life in the
world. It is not an idea in the air but feet on the ground going
God’s way. It is not an exotic to be kept under glass, but a hardy
plant to bear twelve months of fruits in all kinds of weather.

Fidelity to duty is its root and branch. Nothing we can say to the
Lord, no calling Him by great or dear names, can take the place of
the plain doing of His will. We may cry out about the beauty of
eating bread with Him in His kingdom, but it is wasted breath and a
rootless hope unless we plow and plant in His kingdom here and now.

To remember Him at His table and to forget Him at ours, is to have
invested in bad securities. There is no substitute for plain,
every-day goodness.

… Maltbie D. Babcock (1858-1901)

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