FOLLOW ME

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.’” Mark 8:34-35 (ESV).

The church isn’t perfect, and perfect religion isn’t attainable. But Jesus is perfect and the only way to know God. If we want a capsule definition of Christian life and experience, we can do no better than these two words: following Jesus. These simple words introduce us to a never-ending adventure of moving through life in the ways our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, points us to go.

As Christians, we often use the term “following Jesus.” We desire to follow Jesus, but what does that mean? Throughout the Gospel, there are many stories of Jesus and people following Him wherever He went. When He traveled from city to city during His three years of ministry, not only did His disciples follow Him, but also crowds of people.

The stories of Jesus calling His first disciples to “Follow me” (Matthew 4:18–22) are gripping. Scripture says they left what they were doing “immediately” and followed Him. Knowing the whole story, we can understand why they chose to leave their nets to follow Jesus. But did they know then what they were getting into by leaving everything behind? Did they have any idea how much their lives would change? We know they responded to Jesus’ call; the rest is history. Their response to Jesus’ call to follow made all the difference in the disciples’ lives.

The rate at which we are willing to follow Jesus is directly proportional to the proximity of our relationship with Him at that moment. The disciples followed Jesus because they believed He was who He said He was. Yes, they had a lot to learn and sometimes learned slowly, but through it all, they trusted that following Jesus was better than anything this world had to offer. Because they trusted they were transformed. They changed because they left everything that had the potential to come between them and an intimate, life-altering relationship with Jesus.

Sometimes, when we say we follow Christ, it comes with loopholes, ifs, ands, or buts. We try to finagle our way into keeping our comfort and what we want out of life, but we also want to give it all to Christ.

Following Jesus is making a very personal, individual decision. It is a choice everybody is offered and must choose through faith. Following Jesus is not about religion. Following Jesus is to learn to live your authentic, present life with all its responsibilities, relationships, and roles as Jesus would live it if it were His.

Discussion Questions:

1. What does following Jesus mean to you? 
2. Why is it helpful to know more about Him to follow Him effectively?  What can we do this week to increase our knowledge of Him?