Jesus Christ issued a simple
call - it was the simple call of Jesus. He walked up
to ordinary fishermen and said, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you
fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Or,
I will show you how to fish for people.
The Message says, "Come with Me.
I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women
instead of perch and bass." Then it
says, "They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and
followed."
Am I asking questions, or am I
simply dropping my nets and following?
Our mandate is none other than this first, clear call of the Lord. It is the simple call of Jesus: Follow Me and
I will make you a fisher of men and women.
When Jesus left this earth, He gave
us what is called the Great Commission.
That mandate, to make disciples, involves, going, baptizing, and
teaching them to obey all things that Jesus has taught. How will we teach others all the things that
Jesus has taught? It is through the
process of discipleship, or disciple-making.
What is discipleship? Discipleship is simply the term we use to describe the process of teaching a new Christian how to follow Jesus and become a fisher of men, someone who can lead another person to Christ and teach them to follow Jesus. Robert Coleman writes, "The Great Commission is not a special calling or gift of the Spirit; it is a command - an obligation incumbent upon the whole community of faith. There are no exceptions." In Matthew 28:18-20, as Jesus ends His earthly ministry, He basically told us, "Continue in the simple call of Jesus."
The learning and following of
disciples is expressed through several characteristics. These qualities of life will be found in a
growing disciple . . .
Abides in the Word of God (John 8:31-32)
Jesus said that IF YOU ABIDE (CONTINUE,
REMAIN) IN MY WORD, THEN YOU ARE TRULY MY DISCIPLES. A convert has not yet learned to abide, to
live a lifestyle that is soaked in the Word of God. The psalmist describes the person who
meditates on the Word of God DAY and NIGHT (Psalm 1). God told Joshua that the key to his success
was meditating on the Book of the Law day and night.
A disciple has learned to feed
himself - he is not dependent on other people, his preacher, his teachers. He gleans from these sources, but He knows
how to go to the true Source. He or she
is a person of the Book. As a growing
disciple, he is learning have a grip on the Word of God by . . .
READING
THE WORD, HEARING THE WORD, MEMORIZING THE WORD, MEDITATING
ON THE WORD, STUDYING THE WORD, and APPLYING THE WORD
Obedience (Matthew 7:21; John 14:21)
A disciple of Communism obeys the teachings
of Communism. A disciple of an
outstanding voice instructor follows the instructions of that person. A disciple of an ice skater couch follows the
directions of that individual. So, a
disciple of Jesus obeys Him. Habitual obedience characterize disciples. I apply that truth to mean that 90% of the time, a disciple is going Jesus' way.
How
beautifully the fishermen illustrate this characteristic for us in Matthew
4. Did you see that when Jesus speaks to
them, when He calls them, the Bible says, "And they immediately left their
nets, and followed Him." The New
Living translation reads that they left their nets at once and went with Him.
A good litmus test for our own
discipleship is this: When Jesus speaks, do we obey Him? When the Holy Spirit speaks through God's
Word, do I obey? When I know what
the Lord wants me to do, is my obedience immediate, or do I ask a lot of
questions? The Message says, "They
didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed."
Continued next Tuesday on Walk With Jesus Tuesday . . .
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