Following Jesus means just that, following Jesus,
-toddling round after Him like a small child…
-reaching up for His hand
-reading the Bible and finding things about Him and assimilating those things into how I toddle after Him
-looking into His Face and seeing His love for me
-wanting to love Him back
-peeking out between my fingers that cover my face as I try to look at Him on the Cross
-seeing Him suffer…for me…for us…
-receiving forgiveness
-thanking Him
-telling Him about my friends
-asking Him to love people through me
-giving Him my pain
-feeling His love
-laughing with Him
-crying with Him
-toddling after Him
-longing to be with Him.
So what does it mean to follow Jesus? Jesus himself said that if you want to follow Him, then you should take up your cross and follow Him. What does this mean? I believe it indicates the following:
1) that following Jesus would not be easy. There will be hardships, probably because it is not a popular thing to do, perhaps because you will be forced to endure condemnation, ridicule and even physical harm
2)that following Jesus will require sacrifice. You will have to give up some things, I call them the “pleasures of the flesh” in order to fully live a life that pleases God.
Of course Jesus literally carried His cross; we are asked to do so metaphorically – to do as he did, in our modern times, in a modern context. I therefore believe that if a person sincerely desires to follow Jesus, then he/she should be prepared for hardship, emotionally and physically. One may ask if it is even possible to follow Jesus without all of this. I say no, because I believe it is impossible to be close to God and still live a life of carefree abandon, with no consideration to how actions and choices relate to pleasing God. At the heart of this argument is the point that we all want to live a life that is holy and pleasing to our creator. Jesus is our best example, and therefore it makes sense to follow Him, or in other words, to do as He did.
” Dear Jesus,
Thank you for your example. You have shown us how to live a life that is pleasing to God, full of humility, holiness and servitude. Help me to live like you did, putting God first and people second. Help me to see others as people created by God and loved by Him, so I too can be a servant, showing the people I meet your love each day. That is all I want. Amen”
Following Jesus means just that, following Jesus,
-toddling round after Him like a small child…
-reaching up for His hand
-reading the Bible and finding things about Him and assimilating those things into how I toddle after Him
-looking into His Face and seeing His love for me
-wanting to love Him back
-peeking out between my fingers that cover my face as I try to look at Him on the Cross
-seeing Him suffer…for me…for us…
-receiving forgiveness
-thanking Him
-telling Him about my friends
-asking Him to love people through me
-giving Him my pain
-feeling His love
-laughing with Him
-crying with Him
-toddling after Him
-longing to be with Him.
So what does it mean to follow Jesus? Jesus himself said that if you want to follow Him, then you should take up your cross and follow Him. What does this mean? I believe it indicates the following:
1) that following Jesus would not be easy. There will be hardships, probably because it is not a popular thing to do, perhaps because you will be forced to endure condemnation, ridicule and even physical harm
2)that following Jesus will require sacrifice. You will have to give up some things, I call them the “pleasures of the flesh” in order to fully live a life that pleases God.
Of course Jesus literally carried His cross; we are asked to do so metaphorically – to do as he did, in our modern times, in a modern context. I therefore believe that if a person sincerely desires to follow Jesus, then he/she should be prepared for hardship, emotionally and physically. One may ask if it is even possible to follow Jesus without all of this. I say no, because I believe it is impossible to be close to God and still live a life of carefree abandon, with no consideration to how actions and choices relate to pleasing God. At the heart of this argument is the point that we all want to live a life that is holy and pleasing to our creator. Jesus is our best example, and therefore it makes sense to follow Him, or in other words, to do as He did.
” Dear Jesus,
Thank you for your example. You have shown us how to live a life that is pleasing to God, full of humility, holiness and servitude. Help me to live like you did, putting God first and people second. Help me to see others as people created by God and loved by Him, so I too can be a servant, showing the people I meet your love each day. That is all I want. Amen”