Could it be that we’re like the men Jesus met in Luke 9, who had a
desire to follow Him, but didn’t understand the commitment involved (Luke 9:57-62)? The
following points should help us better understand what Jesus expects from us.
We cannot follow Jesus until we have crucified or denied ourselves (Matthew
16:24-25)—until we are willing to say, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in Me” (Galatians 2:20).
The decision we make goes something like this: “I will no longer live according
to the flesh (Galatians 5:24), nor according to the standards of the world (Galatians 6:14); I will instead live for the One
who died for me” (2 Corinthians 5:15).
We cannot follow Him until we are willing to surrender all—time, talents,
money, and yes, even our very lives. Need some good examples?
- Dorcas, who used her talent for sewing to
make garments for widows (Acts 9:36-39).
- The Macedonian Christians, who gave generously, because “they first gave themselves
to the Lord” (2 Corinthians 8:1-5).
- Epaphroditus, who risked his life to supply
the needs of Paul (Philippians 2:29-30).
- Epaphras, who spent considerable time praying
for his brethren (Colossians 4:12).
- The apostle Paul, who was willing “to
die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (Acts
21:13).
Let’s give Jesus all we’ve got, because that’s exactly
what He does for us (Romans 8:31-32).
“Were the whole realm of nature mine—that
were a present far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life,
my all”
(When I Survey the Wondrous Cross).
We must follow Him, no matter who may be opposed, no matter who we may have
to leave behind, no matter what they may say or do to us. In standing for Jesus,
we may have to stand against our friends and loved ones (Matthew 10:34-37; Luke 14:26). If
their praise and acceptance means more than the praise and acceptance of Jesus, we will never be true disciples (John 9:18-22;
12:42-43).
We must follow Him daily—not occasionally, not just when we feel like
it, not just when it’s agreeable to us. “If anyone desires to come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Look through the New Testament and see how many times you see these words and phrases connected with our
service to Jesus: daily, night and day, diligently, often, and always. Jesus
doesn’t take a day off from serving me (Hebrews 7:25), so why should I take a day off from serving Him?
We must “follow the Lamb wherever He goes,” which is exactly
what is said of the faithful in Revelation 14:4. We’ll have more to say about this in the next article, but consider
this: If we follow Jesus wherever He goes, we will end up in heaven, because that’s exactly where He is now (John 12:26;
14:3). We will talk more about this in the next article.
We must follow Him NOW! When
Jesus asked Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him, they immediately left what they were doing and followed Him (Matthew
4:18-22). Let’s not make the same mistake that others did by saying, “Let me FIRST go and...” do something
else that seemed important to them (Luke 9:59-61). Jesus is not someone we should
put off. Our next article will address the question of where this will take us. Please e-mail us if you have any questions:
mailto:prattmont@knology.net
