Monday, July 25, 2016

July 26, 2016

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Mark 1:17

Follow me!

That sounds easy doesn't it?

It is such a simple concept we may dismiss it without much thought.

Think again!

What is involved in following Jesus?

First, it means He must be the leader. 

To be a leader there must be followers and there cannot be followers without someone taking the lead.

When Jesus invites Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow Him he is asserting that He will be the leader and if they are willing to acknowledge His leadership they are welcome to follow.

Second, a follower must go where the leader takes them.

When these fishermen accepted the call to follow they were not sure where it would take them but they committed to go His way and give up on their way.

Thirdly, a follower must do what the leader does.

Jesus called these fishermen to fish for men. 

Why?

Because that is what Jesus did! 

Because that is what Jesus wanted to teach them to do.

Their agreement to follow was a promise to learn to do what Jesus did! They would become like Him in their attitudes, in their actions and in their ambitions!

These three statements seem almost too obvious to even mention, don't they?

If you are following Jesus for these three reasons and in these three ways you can disregard this article and accept my apologies for wasting your time.

But if you call yourself a follower of Jesus and you are not acknowledging Him as your Lord then He is not your leader. If He is not your leader then you are not a follower.

If you claim to be a follower of Jesus but you find yourself often drifting in another direction you may not be a follower! Followers follow! So, if you are not going where He goes you are not following and He is not your Lord.

Remember playing the childhood game of "follow the leader"? It was a simple game with straight forward rules. The players choose a leader and then do exactly what their leader does.

If you call yourself a follower of Christ but your attitudes, actions and ambitions do not reflect His, you are not actually following.

The point of Jesus call is this: If you are going to follow - follow where I lead and as I lead or honestly admit you are not a follower.




Add To Your Faith...

"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness" II Peter 1:5-6



Recently I was honored when I read what one of my people had written about me. She referred to me as a "godly man".

That caused me to pause and asked myself, "Am I really a godly man? What does that mean? What does she see in me that brought her to that conclusion?"

Peter may have the answer in II Peter 1:6 - "For this very reason add to your faith.......godliness".

The word used for "godliness" conveys the idea of devoted worship of God. A godly person worships well.

But, it is more than that. As important as it is to worship well there is more to godliness. Godliness involves a disciplined witness or worshiping God so well that others notice.

Worship has a vertical relationship to it - from man to God. But it also has a horizontal relationship - from man to man. If you do not worship God well it will have a negative effect on how you relate to others. When your vertical relationship is strong it improves how you care about others. Likewise, if you are not treating other people well it will hinder your devotion to God.

Godliness then, is being devoted in both directions - upward toward God and outward toward others. If that is what she meant by being godly, then I am deeply humbled and greatly encouraged.

I want to worship God well and I want to be a good witness for Him. That is the godliness I seek.

"Add to your faith........GODLINESS"!