When God became a man and lived on the earth, He recruited disciples to carry out His ministry. Because He was in the flesh and people could physically see Him, calling others was pretty straightforward. He simply said to people, “Come, follow Me” (Mark 1:17). In today’s world, Christians often talk about “following Jesus,” but what does that look like practically? Jesus is not going to physically walk up to us and command for us to follow Him. So, how do we follow and pursue a relationship with someone who seems to be hidden from us?
The reality of Jesus’s death and resurrection allowed Him to become the life-giving Spirit and mingle with our human spirit. Only when this objective fact becomes our subjective experience will we truly be able to follow Jesus today. The application of this principle can be carried out by building up certain habits and practices that result in a life of truly following the Lord.
Bible Reading
One crucial way to follow the Lord is to read His word. John 1:14 says, “the Word became flesh.” The same person who called the 12 disciples is revealed in every verse of the Bible. To follow someone implies knowing about them and what their intentions are. It also means frequently spending time with them. If we want to follow Jesus, being diligent to read His word is a vital practice we should learn. Jesus paid the ultimate sacrifice out of love for the church, and today His intention is to build us up as His holy people through cleansing us with the word of God (Eph. 5:26).
God speaks Bible.
God speaks Bible. To communicate with Him, we have to learn His language. Similar to how learning a language requires practice and consistency, our Bible reading should be something we value and do frequently. Without dedicating time everyday to read the Bible, we will miss out on developing a relationship with the Lord and receiving revelations that come from His word. To have a productive Christian life in which we strive to follow Jesus, reading the Bible is a vital necessity.
Fellowship
While following Jesus can definitely be an individual experience, there is an overarching corporate element included in pursuing the Lord. The revelation and spiritual sustenance we receive from diligently reading the word will be limited to only benefitting ourselves if we don’t share it with others. The church is a corporate body (Eph. 1:22-23). To build up this body, it is crucial to fellowship with other members. A life of fellowship leads us into a life of corporately following Jesus.
A life of fellowship leads us into a life of corporately following Jesus.
1 John 1:7 says, “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another…” Because we live in a fast-paced world, it can seem impossible to even make time for fellowship. It is Satan’s intention to use the circumstances of this world to distract us and keep us from fellowship with other believers. But when we deliberately set up times to participate in fellowship and share our experiences of the Lord with one another, we are directly fighting against the devil’s tactics. Being built up with other believers will give us the revelation and encouragement we need to follow Jesus throughout our lives.
Prayer
Another way to cultivate a life of following Jesus is through prayer. The act of prayer is sometimes seen as an outward act or before-dinner ritual, but God desires prayer to be more than a formal encounter; He wants His believers to use prayer as a way to contact Him in all situations at all times. Prayer is important in our walk with Jesus because it allows us to deny our flesh and turn to our spirit. When we practice this habit of praying throughout our day, we will be able to follow Jesus in a real way. Like reading the Bible, praying can be both individual and corporate. Praying with other members of the Body allows us to enjoy the Lord together and be built up in our faith.
God desires prayer to be more than a formal encounter.
To follow the Lord, it is important that we incorporate Bible reading, prayer, and fellowship into our day-by-day living. We will never graduate from following Jesus; the process will take our whole lives. The Christian life requires us to sacrifice our own wants and live by another life. Even though this can seem hard or intimidating, we should remember that Jesus promises to reveal Himself to His faithful followers.
By: M. Cannizzo
- A Normal Christian Life - November 11, 2016
- Where do we find our identity? - October 13, 2016
- God’s Purpose Throughout the Ages - September 15, 2016
Following Jesus involves a radically different understanding of the identity, mission and message of Jesus than the traditional understanding presented by the earlier paradigm of Christianity.