By Alexander Rico
We see here in these verses awesome accounts that present to us the calling of the very first disciples of Jesus Christ, and just like these mentioned disciples we are called to follow God whole-heartedly. That word disciple means to be a disciplined follower of another person. This person for us as Christians is Jesus Christ, who we know to be the one and only Son of God. Allow me to ask you a question; do you see yourself as a disciple of Jesus Christ? Now, having answered that, I want you to think on something. Simply coming forward during an alter call or saying a prayer accepting Jesus into your heart does not make you a disciple. What makes one truly a disciple is the great lengths that they pursue to maintain that commitment they had made to follow Christ. See, when we say a prayer accepting Christ into our lives, yet do not do anything after that to maintain the relationship or grow; we are not a disciplined follower. Whenever you date someone, you do not simply date them by title and never build on the relationship. We do not walk around and go, “I am Suzy/Tom’s girlfriend/boyfriend through I really don’t hang out with them, or take them out, I just hold the title…” Why? Well, because in her/his book you are not dating them. The same is true here, when we say the prayer only seeking to gain the title, and do nothing to build on the relationship; we really are not disciples of the Lord.
Some of you may be asking yourselves, well how do I know if I am truly a disciple? Well, I am first going to tell you what characteristics make up a disciple; then, give to you eight key things that will help you to get onto the right track to becoming a disciplined follower of Christ. So let us begin by first asking ourselves what is a disciple? We know from what Matthew tells us in his gospel that a true disciple must be self-denying, or self-sacrificing (Matthew 16:24-26). He tells us we must deny ourselves and take up his cross. How hard is it to deny ourselves, our needs and wants, and follow God? To many, myself included, it is a hard task to do. Why? We are no longer putting ourselves top priority, and as we know our minds only think mainly on ourselves. When you are the driver of a car, you set the temperature to a setting that fits best with you, but, you really don’t bother to think or ask, “How does the passenger feel?” Other times, we have showed ourselves to be self-seeking. In other words thinking on, “how can this benefit me?” Many times we will do a task that someone like our family or friends ask us to do only thinking, “what will I get for doing this, how much money is he/she willing to fork out…” A true disciple of Jesus would lay their own needs aside and essentially die to themselves.
Next, Luke’s gospel tells us that a disciple of the Lord will forsake everyone and everything except for Jesus (Luke 14:25-27, 33). Harvest Christian Fellowship senior pastor, Greg Laurie once said, “The only obsession a disciple should have is Jesus Christ. He (Jesus) must be the most important pursuit in our life. He (Jesus) must be more important than our career, or our personal happiness. In fact, personal happiness is a by-product of knowing Him. Until we recognize that everything we have belongs to Jesus, we are not disciples. If we are aware of God’s will for our life, but unwilling to go in the direction God desires us to go, than we are not disciples.”
Do you have some other obsession in your life? Is it your car? Is it money? Is it your house? Get rid of these things and focus your eyes back onto Jesus, the best obsession one could ever have. In Hebrews chapter 11 verses 25-26 we see there in that passage that Moses, who formerly was considered the prince of Egypt, turned his back to the pleasures and plenty that Egypt had to offer and followed God. Why? Well, he understood essentially that he could not serve two masters. One of them had to give; and, for those of you who know the story, it was his choice to follow God, and sacrifice himself that placed him into what my pastor refers to as the “Hall of Faith.”
Another trait we see in all Jesus’ disciples is their love for one another. John tells us in his gospel a statement Jesus had made, he said “by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35) Many times, it is that four letter word, which Jesus had mentioned, that shines farther than any spoken word ever could. When you give someone food through a church food pantry and deliver it yourself, you are showing them love and they register that action with the love God; and know that you are His disciple.
Also, we see in Christ’s disciples the fruit of their relationship (John 15:1-8). Jesus said himself that our lives as disciples would change and bear fruit. When you look at an Apple tree, how do you know it is an apple tree? When it bears apples right? Same is true here, you know a disciple when it bears the fruits or actions of a disciple. If you have been a believer for a substantial period of time and have not seen an ounce of change in your life, nor have you borne any fruit; then, may I suggest today to evaluate yourself and ask that question again, “Am I truly a disciple of Jesus Christ?”
Finally we see here the last trait that makes up a disciple, a life that is action-packed! When we look over the scriptures we see many cases in which a disciple of Christ has been persecuted, imprisoned, and killed all for the gospel message. And not always does an action packed life deal with persecution and imprisonment; it can also be the labor that you are called to put in. As a leader for the local college Christian club I am on call 24-7 and hardly sitting still; God has me moving whether it be preparing a study to teach for our weekly bible studies, praying with the members of the club, sharing the gospel message with those around campus, or sitting down disciplining another believer in the Word of God. Sure, as a disciple God work’s you hard, but you know what? Eventually, we will have our rest in heaven so why not work hard now here on earth?
Having looked over the traits noticed in a life of a disciple, allow us now to share the eight known keys one apply to their lives to become a true disciple of the Lord:
1.) BY TRUSTING “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make your paths straight.” (Proverbs 3:5-6) How can you follow someone if you do not trust them? You need to be able to trust God with your life, and know that everything He does is for your betterment and ultimately for a greater purpose and plan. One Sunday service a nervous young preacher stood before the congregation to preach his first sermon. He was just out of seminary. “F-f-f-friends, when I came here this morning only the Lord and myself knew what I was going to preach. And now only the Lord knows.” Just like this young nervous preacher, we need to trust that everything will work out through God’s way, even if it may be down to the wire; and seeming hopelessly unworkable.
2.) BY BELIEVING “Jesus said, ‘I am the Bread of Life, he who comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.'” (John 6:35). You need to believe. One day two men were standing around during a lunch break. One asked, “What do you believe about God?” The other answered, “I believe what my church believes.” “Well, what does your church believe?” asked the first man. “My church believes what I believe.” The other man thought for a second, “So…what do you believe?” The other man puffing out his chest and replied, “We believe the same thing.” Believe in the one you are following, not because it’s what your churches are telling you to believe, but believe on it because you know it in your heart to be the truth. Following rituals and doctrines does not make you a believer, nor does it save you.
3.) BY LIVING A LIFE GLORIFYING TO GOD. “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not of you own? For you were bought at a price; therefore, glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20) Does that mean that we, after church go out to parties? Does that mean that we are to live a double life style? Nope. What we are to be doing is living in a way that reflects and glorifies the father who created us. I am deeply saddened many times when I see believers who leave the church, and turn into this totally different person. We need to be the same in service, as out.
4.) BY RUNNING FOCUSED ON JESUS. Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “Run the Christian race with endurance, keeping your eyes focused on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” We need not to have our eyes focused on the circumstances or the distance between the goal and where we’re at; we need to have our eyes focused directly on Jesus Christ. I know, it can be quite difficult, especially when the circumstances seem so much greater than one could handle, but keep on running to finish the race.
5.) BY MAKING WISE CHOICES; Mark 4:1-20 points out the pitfalls that can draw us away from God. We need to be able to make good choices. When faced with problems or situations we need to be able to know what the right decision is in that case when it is called for.
6.) BY GODLY ATTITUDES. In Matthew 5:1-12, Jesus teaches the disciples what is known as the “Beatitudes”. These very same beatitudes teach not only the disciples of the Lord at that time, but also teach us the traits of a disciple now. We need to have that godly attitude. Today, I want to encourage each of you to open up your Bibles and diligently look over each of those beatitudes; then, ask yourself where you’re at in that list. Do you have all those traits listed?
7.) BY BUILDING ON THE ROCK; “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to be a wise man who built his house on a rock” (Matthew 7:24). We need to build our lives on the rock of Jesus Christ. Not on the soils of our own ambitions. For if we do not listen to what Jesus taught us through this Bible; then, we will be like that man who built his house on sand (Matthew 7:26-27). We know that Jesus tells us that, that house was hit with rain, and it fell, and great was its fall. Would you rather build a house on an unstable foundation? Or, would you prefer to build it on a solid foundation? Visuals along with me, a house built upon a hillside with an unstable foundation. One that when an earthquake comes it’s way, it is bound to fall; on the flip side, visuals with me a house built on level ground, stable ground. What will happen to that house when an earthquake (life) comes along?
8.) BY ALLOWING HIM TO WORK; “He who began a good work in you will complete it.” (Philippians 1:6) We need to allow Jesus to work in our lives, not begin to section off areas that he can and cannot touch. Either, you allow Him to work fully, or you totally deny Him completely. Stop holding onto sections of your life, true disciples of the Lord know to let the Lord complete the work he has already begun when we first accepted Him as our personal Lord and savior. As I mentioned earlier, a true disciple of the Lord is self-sacrificing and self-denying.
Sure, the journey to becoming a true, faithful disciple is hard; I never said it was easy. It takes maintaining a disciplined commitment to the Lord. As we put the Lord first in our lives and make growing in that relationship our top priority; then, we will be disciples, and will live full abundant and action-packed lives. In closing, Greg Laurie has said, “The Christian life is not a sprint, but rather it is a long distance run. We are not meant to live off short spiritual bursts where we run with all our might and then collapse, only to get up a couple days and do it again. The Christian life is a day to day race in which we must pace ourselves and apply great discipline.”
Today, you may not be a believer in Christ Jesus, our Lord. If that is the case, why not accept Jesus today as your personal Lord and Savior? How do you do this, and receive this gift of eternal life?
Well, the Bible tells us, “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’, and believe in your heart, God raised him from the dead, you will be saved!! For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved!!” (Romans 10:9, 10)
So, what are you waiting for? If you’d like to accept Christ; then by all means, please join me in this simple prayer of acceptance, asking Jesus into your heart, mind, and soul.
” Lord Jesus, I believe that you are the Son of God, and I believe that you died on that cross for me. I ask now, please forgive me of my sins. Thank-you that you loved me enough to even think of me as your child and still give me this gift of life despite my sinful life. I accept your sacrifice and trust you with my entire life. I hand it over to you. Thank-you. In your precious name I pray, amen.“
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