LEARNING DAILY

Matthew 16:24, Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”

 We were watching the series “The Chosen” the other day and the character portraying Matthew said, “One thing I know I need to do when I wake up each day – follow Jesus and life takes care of itself”. Perhaps when the disciple Matthew wrote his account of Jesus’ life this is what he thought when he wrote the statement of Jesus above. It is not just a great line from a series; it is a thought Believers need to remember each day as they get out of bed. Today let’s be reminded of what it means to follow Jesus.

Jesus called His disciples by saying, “Follow Me.” The response was to get up, leave everything behind and follow Him. When one gives their life to Him to be saved by Him, He makes the same call. The believer begins to walk on a narrow way to be changed by Him, making him fit for the kingdom of God. Truly following Jesus means He has become everything to the one following Him. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” The statement to the disciples applies to each Believer today. To follow Christ means one has no other gods before Him; Believers place no one nor any thing before Him.

The disciples found that they had to leave everything behind. They could not follow Him half-way. it took time but they came to understand their need to be obedient to Him (as He was obedient to His Father in heaven). Their desire became to please Him, to glorify Him in all they did was because of being with Him. He showed them how to live what the Scriptures taught by showing them His grace, His compassion, His mercy, and His love. They began to apply the truths He taught them as they walked closely with Him.

As Believers continue to walk the narrow way, the Holy Spirit, our Helper and Guide, begins to change us as we apply the same truths of Scripture. We also begin to strive to be like Him in all aspects of our lives. The grace He has given Believers causes us to speak and do all things to glorify Him. Billy Graham has said that following Christ means, “first, to commit our lives to Jesus Christ, to make Him the master of our lives. Be obedient to Him because He knows what is best for each of us. See others through the eyes of Christ.”

To follow Jesus each Believer must follow and imitate Him. An important key to doing that is knowing as much about Him as possible. But, let me emphasize it’s not the knowledge in itself that is important – becoming like Christ is the end goal. Reading/studying/ meditating on the Word of God and doing it prayerfully and then being obedient to it is the how becoming like Christ happens.

Believers face quite a challenge in this world today. Faith has been challenged by all sorts of thoughts and the result of that is seen everywhere. It seems that the belief in the salvation of Jesus Christ is still important. But the importance of walking the narrow way and making Him the Lord of our life has been ignored. Deceptive and wrong teaching has greatly contributed to this. Faith grows as we walk with Jesus on the narrow way; walking the narrow way shows us the need to depend on Him instead of relying on our own limited wisdom and knowledge. To face the challenges of today’s evil world, the need to “follow Jesus” is a call each Believer must understand he/she cannot follow Him the way He desires without a day by day walk in obedience to Him allowing the Holy Spirit to produce in us the character of Jesus Christ.