Follow part 1
There are a lot of religious folk out there who claim to be "following Jesus." Or who, more often, tell others to "follow Jesus." And while I think that's great advice, I want to spend a few days kind of diving in to it and looking at what it really means to be a follower, or a disciple, of Christ. And let's start right there. "Disciple," according to dictionary.com, means, ""A person who is a pupil or an adherent of the doctrines of another; follower." A student, in other words. And we know that God is love. So a disciple, or follower, of Christ is a student of love. Learning how to love by learning how we are loved. It comes back, to me, to Acts 22:25, "For thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard." Knowing what you've got and giving what you've got. A man with an experience is never at the mercy of a man with an argument. Once you've seen and heard something... you KNOW it. Beyond the shadow of any doubt. And once you know it... you can throw it. I believe we go through things for two reasons: 1. So we can learn and grow. 2. So we can help others through those same things. Having someone tell you--in the midst of your trials and tribulations-- "It's ok. I've been where you are. You can get through this, because I got through it, and because I'm going to help you through it" is so powerful. It can give hope to the hopeless. And, again, that's how we learn things. We learn how to love people by learning how God loves us. We learn how to help people by learning how God helped us. It's all about taking what's inside and letting it out. Knowing and believing that we are loved by God, and loving Him back by loving people. Look at Romans 8:14--and this is our key verse for this Rant series-- "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." There are a lot of different terms here. "Followers of Christ." "Disciples." But what it really comes down to is just that; If you are led by the Spirit, you are walking in your true identity. And, in a sense, it's about following in your Father's foot steps. It's about continuing on the family business. Isn't that what Jesus said when He was lost for a few days and His parents found Him in the temple? I must be about my Father's business. And He was just a boy. But He was led by the Spirit. He knew who He was, and He knew what He was about. That makes life so much more simple. And notice I didn't say "easy." Because loving people takes a lot of effort. Love IS maximum effort. Giving everything you have and everything you are. Giving it your all. But here's the key--and we're really going to hit on this in the coming days--if you don't trust God, you won't follow Him. If you don't think He knows where to go, you'll go your own way. Obedience is a trust issue. If you trust God to take care of you, you will follow where He leads. You won't go kicking and screaming either. You'll be happy to obey. Obedience is not about fear of punishment. And it's not about obligation. Obedience is about trust, pure and simple. If you trust God, you will obey Him. You will follow Him. Because you will know that He is leading you to where you need to go. Telling you the best possible thing to do in any given situation (which, of course, is love). A disciple of Christ is a student of love. Following where love leads!