How do you approach a task that is assigned to you? Does it depend on who it is that assigns it? Spouse? Friend? Employer? Someone in authority? Does the scope of the undertaking quicken your response, or does it shoot out negative vibes? Do you start with prayer or ask God to bless the job when it is finished?
Imagine you are one of the 12 disciples to whom Jesus said, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations…teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19:20).
What did Jesus expect of His disciples when He gave them this command? How do you think they received this instruction with its far-reaching implications? Did they know that to make disciples meant more than just sharing words of knowledge? But that it meant to teach others the lessons they had heard and witnessed in their three years of walking with the Master Teacher.
We too are called do the same. We also are called to love God and to love one another (Matthew 22:37-39). We are to forgive others as God in Christ forgave us (Ephesians 4:32). These verses are not just words to be memorized, (although this is an excellent way to keep Scripture on our minds and in our hearts) but these truths are to be lived out in our daily lives just like the disciples did.
What does that look like? We go to where people, loved ones, neighbors, are in life – emotionally, and spiritually in their physical locale. We enter their lives. We build relationships. We genuinely care about them and their eternal destiny. Our aim should be to introduce them to Jesus. So when Jesus gives us His invitation to “Come! Follow Me,” we can take up our cross and follow Him.
Jesus entered people’s lives of those He encountered – people like Zacchaeus, the woman at the well, and Matthew, the tax collector. We read Scripture and are able to observe how He interacted with others; how He taught about the kingdom of heaven, how he handled those who responded positively and those who reacted negatively. Jesus does not coerce, nor does He demand, nor does He threaten anyone to follow Him. He simply says, “If you love Me, keep My commands” (John 14:15). Our obedience should stem from a right relationship with Jesus and a desire to please Him. And that can only come if we truly love the Savior.
Have you noticed that Jesus did not tell His disciples, nor does He tell us, to teach others to know everything that He commands, but to teach them to obey everything He commands – not in a legalistic way with a check-off list, but with genuine hearts of love. We should be so tethered with the Lord that our thoughts, desires, and hearts align with His.
Jesus gives us two commands: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second commandment is this, Love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:29-34). (Neighbor is inclusive of all people.)
Before I write a blog, I pray, “Lord God, You are the Ink in my pen, grant that I may be the pen in Your hand for all good things come from you and through You and to You. What words do You have for me?” Who else would I turn to except the One who authored thee Book that is timeless, and contains everything mankind ever needs to know about life and death and how to live on earth and prepare for eternity? How do you respond to His calling? James 1:22 (ESV) gives us this instruction: “Be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.”