"Follow Me" - Jesus

For the children's message this past Sunday, I asked the children to follow me. They proceeded to walk behind me wherever I went. I then started to make movements with my arms so they had to watch more closely. Then I added some spoken words they needed to repeat. They did a good job. I had to get their attention a couple of times along the way, but all in all, nice job.

There was one little skeptic among the group who didn't follow. He just sat there thinking to himself, "I know how this goes. They are going to end up right back here. I'll just wait." Well, maybe it was more a little case of shyness and not understanding what we were doing. I'm pretty sure if, at the end of the children's message, I had them follow me again, he would have joined in.

So what was my point? In the Gospels, Jesus asks his disciples to "Follow me." He is calling them to follow him by watching what he does, imitating it, listening to his words, and sharing them with others—sort of like a lifelong game of follow the leader. Sometimes, we notice in the Gospels that they get distracted and lose sight of what Jesus calls them to do.

46  An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest. 47  But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, took a child and put him by his side 48  and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. For he who is least among you all is the one who is great.” Luke 9:46-48 (ESV)

Other times, they just find following Jesus to be difficult.

60  When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?” 61  But Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, said to them, “Do you take offense at this? 62  Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64  But there are some of you who do not believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) 65  And he said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” 66  After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. 67  So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” 68  Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, 69  and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:60-69 (ESV)

Today, we too can easily be distracted by the world, our own ideas, or even Satan to follow our own path and our own ideas. We, too, can sometimes feel that God is calling us to do something too big for us to do. But we must remember that God never calls us to the status quo. Change is big part of the Christian life. Our call to follow Jesus invites us to pay attention to him, to watch him, and to listen to him; he calls us not to take our eyes off of him.

"Hang around with Jesus long enough, and you can't help imitate him; pick up his approach to life." - Michael Foss from the book Read Life for Real Faith.

So how are you "hanging around with Jesus?" What are you doing to keep your eyes on him?

• Are you having daily devotions?

• Are you worshiping regularly, frequently?

• Are you talking with others about him? Sharing what you heard in a sermon or from your study?

• Are you attending Bible Studies when they are offered?

As Disciples of Christ, we are to be active in all that will make us good and fruitful followers, not just the stuff that makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside. Sometimes, God calls us out of our comfort zone.

I am going out on a theological limb here and say that most of the time, God does not call us to "sell all you have, give it to the poor and move to Africa," although he might. I believe he calls us to stay in our family, in our neighborhood, at our job, and be his witnesses in our everyday lives.

Notice I said most of the time. I also, "as a called and ordained servant of the Word," know that he does sometimes call us to a more radical calling or change in our lives. In the movie Amazing Grace, we follow the story of William Wilberforce, who was called to make a huge difference by helping to end slavery in his job, where he was. (It is a must-see movie for several reasons)

WHAT ELSE ARE YOU DOING? Having been called to be a disciple, are you

• focusing on the future God has prepared for those who believe in him and sharing that hope with others?

• being deliberate with the good news? Do you understand the urgency of our message?

• allowing Jesus to change your life, pull you out of your comfort zone?

• live a life focused on following him, receiving His grace, and sharing it with others?
  

PONDER THIS

Even though we may not be called to the mission field when we respond to God's call, we know that he does wonderful things in our lives so that we better experience His love, and he grants us a willingness to share it. So what's your next step?