Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.”

Matthew 16:24-25

A disciple of Christ, as my Pastor says, is simply, one who follows Jesus, is transformed by Jesus, and joins the mission of Jesus. So, I thought I’d think on that a little more.

Follow – to follow is to move in the same direction as; follow after, pursue, move behind in the same direction.

When we follow Jesus – we are going the way He is going. Not our own way.

When I was a kid my Grammy would stick me in the front seat of her van, with a van load of kids, and put a map in my lap. I was the oldest, so I learned first how to navigate a map. This was pre-google and mostly pre-internet. I rarely get what most call “lost” now, not because of google, I do use it, but it’s because I am not afraid of getting lost. Grammy taught us that when you get lost, you find so many interesting things. Sometimes I try getting lost on purpose. For those in the car with me. It might feel a bit jarring. But I am not worried. PS. if GPS stops working and my phone died. I have a map in the trunk. But this also means I have a tendency to make my own way, and not just in the car.

We are to be pursuing, seeking out to find – JESUS. Not other things. We are moving behind in the same direction, asking the Lord, “Is this the way Lord? This way?” Not being reliant on our own faculties to decide what we will do and where we will go but rather keeping our eyes on Him.

Transformed – change of form, nature, or appearance

As we follow Jesus, He changes us from the inside out. We become more and more like Him. Jesus didn’t hold onto His own way. He went the way of the Father. He didn’t do what He wanted to do. He did what He saw the Father doing. He is our ultimate example.

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.

John 5:19-20

As we do this, as we deny ourselves, that old flesh nature (the part of us that say, “You can go your own way “- as Fleetwood Mac taught us) instead we must take up a cross, like a burden that we are willingly bear. That burden is only to do what we see Jesus doing and following Him. As we go, the power of the Spirit transforms us to become more and more like Jesus. We are changed …as we follow.

Join – connect, unite

I think it is interesting that Pastor Chad also says to join, because to join means you give up autonomy. The rugged individualist, we are, will often fight this and try to claw our way through this life on our own. But in Christ, as followers of Jesus, we’ve joined a mission. We don’t try to save our life, as in being our own saviors and do it our way, but we lose our lives by becoming part of the army of God and sharing the good news with others. We risk rejection, hatred, persecution, to save the lost – as Jesus did. Jesus will sometimes take you off the beaten path – to get lost – that you might find the one who needs Him.

Father, help us. As we enter into this process with You. Help us to hear Your voice. Your Word says that “Your sheep hear Your voice because they know their Shepherd.” Deepen our knowing of You. Help us to have ears to hear and hearts that understand. If there is any way in our walk that we are going our own way or not following You: We repent and ask for you to reveal it and correct it. We are willing to be corrected. Father, as you transform us to become more and more like Your Son Jesus – help us to carry the cross of burden You’ve given us to bear. May we be prayerful about what you give us to bear. May we be diligent to hear and move as You move. Keep us in Your light so that we can shine like bright lights in the dark world. And help us Lord, and we need a lot of help in this: Help us not to be all about ourselves, but to join in with those You have connected us too, our fellow believers, to do life together as we join together in the mission of sharing Christ with others. Jesus you are committed to our life being changed and we pray for those we are in relationship with, that care for, and who we disciple to find that life change too. In Jesus name, Amen.

Thanks for Listening,

Starla