Read Mt 4.18-22, Mk 1.16-20, Lk 5.1-11
And He *said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."
(Matthew 4:19)
Jesus calls His disciples to follow Him. He doesn’t mean this strictly as a mode of travel from point A to point B. This kind of following has the idea of observing and then imitating an action. Jesus is calling His disciples to watch Him and then imitate His life. He is our model.
All those who profess Jesus as Lord have one objective; to become like Him. In doing so we will glorify God. It is the easiest way to explain what it means to be a Christian. Following Jesus. “The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.” (1 John 2:6) This is also where we obtain our guidance for disciplemaking. It’s not really about getting people to do spiritual things like reading the scriptures, praying, or even practicing grace. I could have all these things and miss the One most important. (Jn 14.6) The Pharisees had become experts in spirituality and completely missed the way to the Father (Jn 5.39, Mt 6.5, Mt 23.15) Our job as disciplers is to continually point people to Jesus Christ. Initially they will watch our example and we explain that we are following the model Jesus set for us (1 Cor 11.1). Ultimately, we want to wean a person off of us and primarily to Christ. That is why it’s important for the disciples to personally get into the Word to see Jesus. That is why the young disciple needs to pray for themselves in order to personally relate to the Father the way Jesus did. Every spiritual discipline, every action, every thought revolves around the one goal of becoming like Him. (Col 1.28,Gal 4.19) At the end of the day I must ask this question; “Are the men and women I disciple becoming more like Jesus?” FJ45
For questions or comments drop me a line at charleswood1@gmail.com
