Called to Follow
Image: Camilla Monsen
There’s this great story in Matthew’s Gospel that I love. Jesus, just exorcised demons from a man in the Gadarenes, crosses to the other side of the lake and encounters Matthew sitting at his tax collectors booth in Capernaum.
Jesus turns to him and says: ‘Follow me’.
So Matthew gets up.
And Follows Jesus.
I love this story because it outlines our call as believers in Jesus. To become his disciples. To follow Him.
In his book ‘Practicing the Way’, John Mark Commer compares discipleship to apprenticeship. Just as an apprentice learns a trade by working alongside a master, a disciple learns to live like Jesus by walking closely with Him and adopting His habits and way of life.
Discipleship = adopting His way of life.
The gospels display a clear narrative of how the disciples embraced Jesus’ way of life. First Jesus shows them how it’s done. Then he invites his disciples to join in. Then his disciples lead and Jesus helps out and finally at the end of Matthew’s gospel - Jesus commissions his disciples to make more disciples.
Notice how Jesus didn’t mention converts. Or simply people who believed. But disciples.
To become disciples requires the adoption of intentional practices. Much like training for a marathon - we cannot become the type of person that completes marathon by simply thinking about it. We must train. And thus to become like Jesus we must adopt his practices.
The ultimate goal of the Christian life: is to become like Jesus. Discipleship is not just about believing the right things. Its about being transformed into the image of Christ. This transformation happens through intentional practices that align our lives with the way of Jesus.
It requires us to make decisions which allow us to, as Jesus said: Abide in Him.
Here are some of the key spiritual disciplines we can do to Abide in Him:
Prayer: Communication with God and staying connected to Him.
Scripture: Allowing God’s Word to shape our thoughts.
Sabbath: Sabbath reminds us that worth isn’t tied to productivity
Fasting: Relying on God to overcome the flesh.
Community: Spiritual growth happens in the context of community.
Worship: Reorientates our heart towards God.
Repentance: Confessing our sin so we can turn from it and follow God.
Our modern culture entices the call to mean something crazy!
Something massive.
Which it is.
Sometimes.
But more often than not, transformation occurs when we make small consistent changes over long periods of time.
Cause it’s small changes over long periods of time that have the most impact.
What key spiritual discipline have you been neglecting? And how is God calling you to follow right now.
By Cyle