Being (& Making) a Disciple – I Follow

The life of a disciple begins with a simple plea: “Follow Me.”

You can see this in the Gospels (in Matthew 4:18-20 & Luke 5:27-28) as Jesus tells men to follow after Him.  Stop what you’re doing.  Cast aside what you’re tied to.  Get out of the boat.  Follow Me.

There must be that moment in the life of a disciple when we say, “Yes, I’ll follow.  I haven’t lived my life as it was meant to be.  I have completely screwed up and buried my self in sin.  I can’t ever make up for what I’ve done.  I can’t ever be considered righteous on my own account.  But, You made a way.  In You I’m righteous.  In the death & resurrection of Your Son my debt was paid and my death was transformed to eternal life.  You are my everything.  My Lord, my God.”

So many of us prayed a prayer that sounded like that.  Yet, so many stop with that prayer.  We are not bought with the blood of Christ so that we can keep doing what we want.  We are called to more than that.

“Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude.” ~ Colossians 2:6-7

We receive.  We accept the call to Follow Him.  But there needs to be a following after; a walking in Him.  That is something that we cannot accomplish in going to a church service or small group.  Those things are great, but they are not where our faith ends.  I follow Him daily.  I follow Him to my job.  I follow Him when I get home from a long day of work.  I follow Him every single place I go.  Discipleship is a call to give God everything we have.  In turn, He is with us everywhere we go: guiding, strengthening, teaching.  He will use people in so many aspects of our life to teach us, encourage us or hold us accountable.  God will also place people in our path who need to be loved, to be held accountable or who need to hear about the Gospel.  My ENTIRE life is a following after.

I keep pursuing, He keeps teaching & growing me.  The faith in Christ that saves us from our sins involves an internal transformation that has external implications.  God has saved me and in that I live my life in view of His grace.  Seeking to know Him more through His Word.  Serving Him more in the life I walk in.  Loving Him more in daily choosing what He has asked me to do.

I am a disciple.  I follow.