REFERENCE BIBLE VERSES
Matthew 8:20 |Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
Matthew 16:24 | Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
OBJECTIVE
To understand that following Christ is costly, but it’s worth it
CONTENT
What does it mean to follow Jesus?
- Following Jesus means leaving our old life behind and stepping into the unknown. During his ministry, the disciples stepped away from their former life to be with Jesus. For an example: Simon Peter and Andrew left their old ways of being fishermen to be the fisher of men. As Christians, God calls us to step away from the familiar to being prepared to serve others.
- Following Jesus means leaving away the comforts of this life to be more like Him. Matthew could easily make money as a tax collector, but he chose to follow in Jesus’ footsteps instead of life of abundance and comfort because he knew that choosing God over his wealth will satisfy his soul.
- Matthew 16:24 talks about denying oneself. This means relinquishing our own will, ambition, and putting God’s desires above our own. Following Jesus means that we understand that a life that reflects Jesus is our first priority above all else. This also demands us to stay connected to Jesus such that we can be aligned to His heart and will.
- Following Jesus is also a call to obedience, which means living out his teaching and going wherever He leads. It is to live out Christ’s calling in our lives.
Jesus has done it all before us
- When we follow Jesus, it does not mean that life will go smoothly. On the contrary life can become more challenging because we are not called to be of the world, but to overcome the world (our flesh).
- Christ has experienced all of the weight that comes from having to follow His father by being obedient to the point of death. He has suffered all that the suffering and discomfort that would entail when we follow Him. If our God has suffered for us, shouldn’t we suffer for Him?
- As Christ has done it all for us, He can sympathize with us when we say that following Him is costly. In fact, because He knew how difficult it would be for us, He has gifted us with the dwelling of the Holy Spirit to comfort and guide us.
- And thus as a result, when we follow Christ, we get to be more Christ-like instead of succumbing to the flesh or worldly desires. We get to break the hold of sin in our lives. Becoming like Jesus is hard work but good work.
- In fact, Hebrews 12:1 describes a “great cloud of witnesses surrounding us”, which means God and the Heavens are cheering on us to run with endurance such that we can finish the race God has given us.
- Ephesians 2:10 mentions that because of what Christ has done for us we are created anew to live a better life and accomplish the good works God planned in advance.
- John 14:12 then encourages how whoever believes in Him will do the works He has been doing and they will do even greater things than these, because He is going to the Father. As His work at the cross is finished, we simply have to walk in obedience to claim His victory over our challenges.
REFLECTION/DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- For you, What do you think makes it hard to follow Jesus?
- Why do you personally think it’s worth it to follow Jesus?
- How does knowing He has already done it all at the cross help strengthen you to keep the good fight?
REFERENCES