What makes someone a true disciple? A follower of Jesus Christ would be considered a disciple. But in today's day and age, we seem to use the term "follower of Christ" quite lightly. What really makes someone a true follower of Christ? Is it just going to church weekly?; is it just repenting and accepting Jesus as your Saviour?; or is it giving a big offering or maybe is it helping out with charity organizations or helping the less fortunate? According to the Word of God...it goes a little deeper than that.
"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (St. Mark 12:30-31)
The first thing that every follower of Christ must have is love. An unconditional love for God...we have to love Him with everything we have, with all of our might. For a lot of us, that may sound easy but the second part is that we have to love everyone that we come in contact with just as we love ourselves. It's easy to show love towards someone who is nice to you but what about the people who disrespect us and the people who don't like us, the people who use and abuse us...we have to love them just the same....with unconditional love. No matter how bad people may treat us, as true disciples, the love of Christ should shine through us at all times. When people treat us bad, we have to be like Jesus. Just continue to show love and pray for them and ask the Lord to forgive them because they know not what they do. We should pray for our enemies and ask the Lord to save them.
Choosing to follow Jesus Christ is a serious decision. It's no joking matter. Salvation is not something to be taken lightly. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." (Matthew 16:24) When you make the decision that Jesus will be your Lord and Master, your vocabulary changes. You're priorities in life change. Your "I will" becomes "Thy will". You no longer live life trying to find out how you can please self, but you live looking to see how you can please God. Jesus should be first in your life. His will should become your will. Your steps should be ordered by the Lord. We also have to be willing to suffer for righteousness sake. Jesus, who knew no sin, suffered and went to the cross for us when He didn't have to. II Timothy 2:12 says that if we suffer, we shall also reign with Him: if we deny Him, He also will deny us. We cannot be ashamed of the gospel...Jesus has to be Lord not just in church, but everywhere we go. "So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:33) Ask yourself...would you give up everything you have to follow Jesus? If you had to leave your family in order to serve the Lord, would you? If you had to give up the career of your dreams in order to live a sanctified life, would you? Would you stand up for holiness in a place full of the unrighteous when you're surrounded by peer pressure? A true disciple of Jesus Christ would be willing to give anything...even if it came down to his life...for the gospel's sake.
For example, let's look at the three Hebrew boys: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. The King Nebuchadnezzar made a rule that whoever didn't fall down and worship the golden image that he set up would be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. Now, for some Christians today, that would be a big enough threat to scare them into bowing down to the idol. Some would probably agree within themselves that they would bow down now and repent later. But Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were firm believers. They had true faith in God. They knew that the God they served was able to do all things. When the music sounded throughout the town and when it was time for all to worship the golden image, they refused to bow down and worship the image. When brought before the king to be thrown into the furnace, they said "Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up." (Daniel 3:17-18) They had no doubt in the power of God and they stood up for righteousness. They were willing to die for what was right. They would not offend God for any cause. Because of that, the Lord did deliver them out of that situation and the king developed great respect for them and called them "servants of the most high God." Because of their obedience to the Word, they were blessed and were promoted by the king.
A true disciple of Jesus Christ is obedient to His Word. "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand." (John 10:27-28) When you belong to Christ, you follow his Word...you keep His commandments because you love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. It's an automatic thing. You don't have to try to be obedient to the Word when you belong to Jesus. Living by the Word shouldn't be a struggle when you belong to the Lord. It's something that's naturally in you that when you hear the Lord say "Put it down", you automatically put it down. You don't ask why? When you belong to God, you don't question anything He says. You don't ask why do I have to be baptized?...why do I have to live a holy and sanctified life?...why can't I smoke?...why can't I go to this club?...why can't I sleep around?...why can't I dress like that?...why can't I do drugs?....why can't I get drunk with alcohol? When you are one of the sheep of Jesus Christ, your only response is "Yes Lord." Why? is not in your vocabulary. You are committed to Jesus and He is to you. Nothing in this world will be able to separate you from His love. You will take pleasure in doing His will and following His word. "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (St. John 8:31-32)
"He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God." (St. John 8:47) Unfortunately, everyone is not a sheep of Christ. Those who are not God's cannot hear His voice. They can't even understand the Word of God. These types may read the Word but there is no understanding. These are people who represent stony ground. There isn't any where for the seed to be planted in order to promote growth. When the Word goes forth, even if it is explained carefully, they will not understand nor accept it. Many would accept the commandments and traditions of men before accepting the commandments and Word of God. There are many that shun the Word and do not accept it. Instead of letting God be the authority in their life, they make the mistake in thinking that they know enough and that they have it all in control. This person's main concern would be how to please self and how to make self happy.
When we choose to accept Christ as Lord of our lives, there is a commitment involved with that decision. We're not only answering the call to salvation but we're answering the call to discipleship. Jesus has to become the head of our lives. Before we do anything in life, we should consult the Lord first to see if it's in His will. We should frequently talk to the Lord in prayer and our Bibles should be opened more than once a week. We should read the Word daily. Our desire should be to develop a closer walk with Jesus. In everything we do, we should ask ourselves 'How can I do this so that God may be glorified'? We must keep our conversation holy and avoid filthy communication. We must have the love of Christ within us for all mankind. We must be willing to endure all things for the gospel's sake.
"Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." (St. John 15:8)
