The paradox of following Jesus takes complete faith in the system. Complete faith in the covenant. We are called to lay it all down. To have no other God’s before Him. To ruthlessly eliminate our flesh’s enslavement to sin of all kind. Then we are on the path toward finding true nourishment.
Unfortunately, there is no set formula to finding the face of God, but God knows our heart and he will know when we are ready to face Him. To find true nourishment, we must all find true hunger. We have to get hungry for true living, for true deep connection to the Father.
Just like we learned from the rich young ruler, you can try to do it all right, but God might require more than you are willing to give. I would rather assume that he wants all from me, than assume that only that guy had love for money that was greater than all of us. In fact, Jesus get’s even cleared for those that need it,
“So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
What about people that only want to be a Christian and not a disciple?
Nope, sorry that is not a thing. A Christian is a disciple—a person who has been redeemed by the blood of Jesus and that follows the way of Jesus. That person chose at baptism to die to his or her flesh and be raised again in the new creation of Jesus, of righteousness. Jesus paid the price so that you could walk through that “door” into the presence of the father, your sinful fallen flesh is no longer. You now desire to allow him to choose what is good and evil again. His ways, that do not always make sense to our flesh are what truly nourishes our soul. We live into the life that pleases God and live out His heart to others on the earth so that we can display his character and love for His people. Correction, not “we”, so that HE can display his character and love for his people through us!
Jesus is not just hiding in our hearts, we are embodying him. If we can get our sinfulness, that has been forgiven( but is still there) out of the way, we can align in him and his power can be made known through us again. Just like it was with Jesus, and just like it was for the disciples and the first church. (maybe he can do it all despite our sinfulness)
Living into a life of sacrifice in order to serve the Lord by loving the poor seems like kind of a drag, and drain on our mind and body. But if God has his way, we will be filled with his Spirit first and then in doing his will, we will be nourished in a way that you cannot even imagine until you experience it yourself.
I’m not only suggesting that you give everything away and start serving the poor. I’m suggesting that by giving everything away and placing your trust in God and allowing his Spirit to fill you with his love and power, you will be nourished in a whole new way. Yes, it will still be hard, but Jesus tells us of a living water that will be pouring into us and out from us. That we will not be thirsty, his work will nourish us.
In the same way, the spiritual disciplines are there for us to learn how to find his face, but many times the spiritual discipline of loving people is not focused upon, yet is necessary. None the less, meditation, prayer, fasting, and generosity are all ways to follow Jesus. And even though you might not be able to measure its effects on a spreadsheet, you will begin to find nourishment in these elements as well.