At the Heart of Being a Follower of Jesus Christ

Did you ever stop and think about what is at the very heart of being a follower of Jesus? Is it giving to the poor? Standing up for justice? Bible reading and prayer? Personal and corporate worship? Tithing to one's church? Sharing the faith with those outside the faith? Now, it is true that all of these things will be done by a true disciple of Christ. But none of these, taken alone, is the very heart of following Jesus. So ... if not these, then what?

We don't have to guess about the answer or google to find it. Jesus already gave it to us. The answer is found in his final instructions to the Church. In what is known as his Great Commission, he tells us that our mission must be to "make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you" (See Matthew 28:18-20 for the entire text). You see, at the very heart of following Jesus is not just KNOWING the commands of Jesus, but OBSERVING them. The Church is called upon to make disciples who practice God-honoring, Kingdom-advancing obedience to the Word of God. So when you and I, who have chosen to follow the Lord of the universe, CHOOSE to obey his commands, even at personal cost to us ... we prove that we are truly HIS DISCIPLES. And in the process, Jesus gets glory and we get blessed! There is no more fulfilling blessing than the blessing of God! 

Thanks for stopping by . . .
pj