Loosely Attached to Jesus
—Not totally committed
When a house is built in some parts of Australia, the roof is very strongly attached to the house so that when a cyclone comes the roof won't blow away. Christians should be strongly attached to Jesus so that they won't fall away when trouble comes upon them. But many are weak, loosely and flimsily attached. The Bible talks about this weakness in several ways.
1 Lukewarm
Revelation 3:16
Jesus said, "Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth."
Solomon became halfhearted in his devotion to God. "His heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been" (1Kings 11:4).
Apparently, Jesus regards a lukewarm devotion to him as worse than no devotion at all —whereas we might have thought that a mixed devotion is better than none.
2 Little Babes
(Hebrews 5:12)
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food" (NKJV).
God gives new Christians time to grow spiritually after their baptism. But some remain babes because they do not advance in knowledge of the word.
Whilst Christians are not to remain babes they are to have a passion, a zeal, for the word of God that is like a baby’s desire for milk. "Like newborn babies, crave the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby" (1Peter 2:2).
Note:— Peter and Paul use the Milk Analogy in a slightly different way. Peter makes milk represent the word of God as a whole (1Peter 2:2). Paul makes milk represent the first principles of the word as distinct from the solid meat of the word (1Corinthians 3:2, cf Hebrews 5:12).
3 Little Faith
Matthew 6:30
Jesus asks,"If God clothes the grass of the field so gloriously, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?"
Jesus used those words, "O you of little faith", on more than one occasion. If our faith is great, our reliance on Jesus will be strong.
Reliance on self without faith in Christ, indicates weakness not strength, failure not glory. (Philippians 3:3-14).
Peter walked on the water toward Jesus, but then he sank for fear, and doubted the Lord was really there, helping him. Jesus rescued him and said, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:22-32).
4 Looking Back
Genesis 19:26
Jesus said, "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). Lot was led out of Sodom and Gomorrah to escape destruction. He and those with him were told not to look back. "But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt" ("Genesis 19:26").
Faith in Jesus Christ leads you out of the world, and away from your attachment to its pleasures and treasures. You are rescued from the wrath of God and brought into His kingdom. You must not look back. Your attachment must be altogether to Jesus. He said that anyone who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is unfit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:62).
5 Letting Go
Ruth 1:14
Naomi became a widow and wanted to return from Moab to Bethlehem. She set out with her two Moabite daughters-in-law, but she pleaded with them to stay in Moab. In response, "again they wept aloud, and Orpah kissed her mother-in-law goodbye, but Ruth clung to her."
Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or to turn from following you. For where you go, I will go, and where you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. 17 Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me." (Ruth 1:16-17).
Orpha kissed Naomi and said goodbye. But Ruth clung to Naomi, showing a firm attachment. Ruth refused to kiss and say goodbye. She was determined not to let go of her life with Naomi. Likewise, we must cling to Jesus and refuse to let go of our life with him. We must stay strongly attached to our Saviour. Not even death should separate us.
6 Lacking Root
Luke 8:5-6
"Some seed fell on rocky ground, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun arose, the seedlings were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
The parable of the sower and the seed (Luke 8) is about how God's word (the seed) grows in people's hearts (the soil). In the stony ground, the seed soon sprouted, seeming to thrive, but the plant withered and died because it lacked root.
Paul writes of our deep-rooted attachment to Christ: "Thus may Christ dwell in your hearts through faith. And in love may you put down roots well grounded. 18 May you be empowered with all the holy ones, to grasp how wide and long and deep and high 19 is the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge. So may you be filled to all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:17-19 paraphrase).
7 Lipservice
Matthew 15:8-9
Jesus spoke of those who show their loose attachment to God. He quoted Isaiah as folloiws: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 9 They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrine the commandments of men" (cf Isaiah 29:13).
When the lips say religious words, those words ought to be the doctrine of Jesus in scripture, not the doctrine of men. And those words must be cherished in the heart of those who speak, otherwise they are hypocrites. And even though their lips speak truly, They have a feeble attachment to Jesus.
It's time to close our lesson. No doubt there are other examples in scripture that warn us against a loose attachment to Jesus. You might like to think of some.
Conclusion
Jesus identified the first and greatest commandment. It demands a strong attachment to Jesus Christ, doesn't it? "Thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind [and with all thy might]. 38 This is the first and great commandment" (Matthew 22:37-38, Luke 10:27, Deuteronomy 6:5).