Follow Jesus
“Follow Jesus” is a common instruction of the Christian faith and Matthew records Christ requesting this five times, and Mark, Luke and John add to this list, but a few are repeats of Matthew's accounts, "Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and let him bear the cross, and let him follow Me." (Matthew 16:24). Therefore, one would assume that every Christian would know how to "follow Jesus" and that all are complying with His request. However, it seems to be more a common Christian saying than an actual commitment resulting in action. How does one follow Jesus? Since the Son of God is not physically with us and the journey we are to take is not physical, what are the steps in following Him, as He has requested us? Do we do as He did when He was here on earth? How can we even come close to His activities? He healed the sick, cast out demon, raised the dead, fed thousands with a few loaves and walked on water. Doctors do heal the sick but not by a few word or faith. Has anyone raised the dead or fed thousands with a few loaves of bread? What then should be our focus in responding to His request? Jesus also walked perfectly according to His Father's perfect laws; may this be a good starting point? First and most necessary, we need to know what God's perfect laws are. Of course, we should rely on God's word for this important information. Some of us do just that, read His Book for the proper information, but some just read books by other humans explaining God's word, others just listen to sermons, relying on what others believe the Bible is giving us. There is, however, a problem with this method: man is short of perfection, and some are far from it; the writer or speaker may rely on his own evaluations of truth and not on the Bible writer's meanings, missing our Christ's intended points, being the inspirer to the Bible writers. Possibly the speaker or writer received information from someone else or in a book about the Bible and not God's word directly. But worst, are those who insert their own opinions, being adjusted by their agenda, or considering they have received their understanding from God's spirit. In light of all these possibilities, our responsibility is to test everything written and spoken word about the Bible, by comparing directly with God's word. Better yet, go directly to God's word and avoid having to test everything else with what God has already given us, less time will be spent comparing, plus the information will be purer from the very start. Reading or listening to what others have to say about Christ and His perfect walk isn't following Jesus; it's following the writer or the speaker, who can only claim to know Jehovah God's instructions.
Christ is the Word of God (John 1:1). He is the One responsible for sharing
His Father's instructions with us, through the many Bible writers by inspiration
and in person at his first advent. For us to be aligned, as accurate as possible,
with the truth; it is our personal responsibility to read the Bible for ones self,
so Christ or Jehovah's spirit can speak to us directly and not through another imperfect
human. Beyond this one book called the Bible, we have zero conformation that Christ
inspired any other person to share Jehovah God's messages with us. Christ assembled
this inspired collection of instructions and history into a special Book (holy) for
us to personally read. Caution, however, must be given to the many translations and
versions; understanding that men are the translators, and being flawed, they can
interpret God’s word imperfectly. Do you or should your trust your salvation to others?
God's word is consistent form Genesis to Revelation and this should be our guiding
method for determining the pure truth. Following Jesus means not only reading but,
doing His words and walking according to His walk in keeping His Father's commands,
"And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went away to make war with the rest
of her seed, those keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus."
(Revelation 12:17). If we, and the church that we attend are not walking after Christ's
lead, could this be one reason why there are over two thousand different Christian
denominations, all claim to be Bible based? This is impossible if each teach a different
set of beliefs and doctrine. Studying God's word directly takes time and effort,
but this is one reason God gave a 24-
I still haven't addressed why we are to follow Jesus, we've just learned what
Christ has given us from His Father, Jehovah. Christ also gave us an account of what
He did during His first advent and if we have read everything in God's word, we know
that Jesus conducted Himself perfectly, according to His Father's laws and commands,
for this was to qualify Himself as the "Lamb of God" in order to pay the blood price
for our sins, which He accomplished perfectly and on time, that we need not to die
the second death for our repented sins. The overall light of God Jehovah's Commandments
is a love for Jehovah and a love for the many earthly companions, as Christ displayed
His love for all in every way. He also asked us to bear our own cross, "And whoever
does not bear his cross and does not come after Me, he is not able to be My disciple."
(Luke 14:27). Since there are several opinions as to what "bearing our cross" means,
it's going to be up to you to decide for yourself. Allow me to share one: Christ
freed us from the bonds of death at Calvary and we are to conduct ourselves with
helping others to free themselves from their bonds that lead to death, by sharing
with others what Christ has accomplishment for us, plus, any way we can help people
find the truth of god's way and to help others with their personal and earthly needs,
"For I was hungered, and you gave Me food to eat; I thirsted and you gave Me drink;
I was a stranger, and you took Me in." (Matthew 25:35), read 36-
Knowing God’s reasons and understanding them as Christ gave them to us, we
can better recognize God's gifts and respond to His instructions and corrections,
as we gain knowledge of God's character, we will recognize His voice, because it’s
His words, not filtered through man. Jesus, He is our Sheppard, leading us to the
Father, not anyone else, so our duty is to study what His voice has given us. At
this point in history, most of us know how to read and can easily acquire a Bible,
which was not so, just a few hundred years ago, especially during the “Dark Ages”
when the word of God was not available to most of the population, than, the public
had to rely on what the teachers of that time stated. We should recognize in our
studying from His Book that some doctrines introduced and promoted by past religious
leaders not Biblical,, according to Jehovah's instructions. Rest assured that God’s
Book was not written just for the educated or the intellects for interpreting it’s
true meanings for us, history has proven this, which caused the need for a reformation
period during the 14th and 15th century. God’s word is the ultimate treasure in this
sin-