The first part of this course really opened my eyes to how important it is to become a disciple of Christ. Before this course I used to think that only ‘chosen’ people could become disciples. But now I see the importance of becoming a true disciple of Christ, and how following Jesus is only the first step.
When Jesus called to the ‘twelve’ they immediately obeyed his call. They didn’t hesitate or say “Wait just let me finish…” That really amazed me. It wasn’t that they were hypnotized, they just knew that Jesus is the son of God. We see an example of this in Mark 1:17-18 when Simon and Andrew dropped everything right after Jesus simple command “Come follow me…” What was the trick? What was the secret? The truth is there is no secret, because it doesn’t start with our decision, it starts with Christ's call.
The difference between the ‘twelve’ and the crowds, sinners etc. was that they obeyed Christ call as it was. They didn’t expect Jesus to do something for them before they committed their whole life to him. Even the people that Jesus healed or performed miracles to didn’t become fully committed to him. Would you commit your whole life to someone you didn’t know very well?
An example of this is in modern times. Let’s imagine you are dating someone who is not a Christian, even though you know the bible says that you shouldn’t yoke yourself with a non-believer. You tell your ‘date’ that you want to end your relationship because he is not a Christian. At that moment he/she falls on his knees and begins to pray the sinners prayer. But do you think he/she will become a devout Christian?
The answer is most probably no. This is because he/she has only made this decision because he wanted you to stay in your relationship. What would happen if you broke up with him in the future for a different reason? What if he didn’t change his ways? What if this new ‘Christian’ only lasted a week? This is how I see the crowds, sinners etc. They only see Jesus as a provider. They could only see what Christ could do for them. They thought: “If I follow him, he might heal me of my sickness!” for example.
In 2013, I heard a sermon about the suffering of Jesus. This wasn’t just any sermon, it went deeply into detail. The one part that really made me ‘click’ was that Jesus suffered from a symptom called Hematidrosis (See Luke 22:44) which happens when you sweat blood, and it is very serious. But that was only the beginning of Jesus suffering. I then realized that I didn’t have a choice whether or not to follow Christ, I had to obey his command.
Of course like many Christians, the only point I saw of becoming a Christian was creating a relationship with God so I could go to heaven. Now I know that this is not entirely true. This is only one piece of the pie. Although it is important, it is not what makes up a true Christian.
The world is advancing faster then we can imagine. Technology, politics are just one part of a big plan for the future. While all this is happening we need to do what we can do while we are here on Earth before its too late.
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