I have had the concern of being overly repetitious in my writing here. Being honest, it seems as if I continue to circle around a few ideas, putting what I hope is a fresh spin on them each time. Yet when I contemplate it, I come to a simple point. As long as I’m still struggling with it, I’m going to continue to write about it! I’m going to follow the advice of Ken Blanchard, one of my early mentors. He said the three keys to learning were repetition, repetition, and repetition.
Living the life of a disciple is simple. Do what Jesus did, say what Jesus said, and love like Jesus loved. Do those things and you will be a true follower of Christ.
Where we get tripped up is in the nuances of following Jesus. It can be difficult applying the concepts and life principles from two thousand years ago, to our modern lives. This is where a continuous study of Scripture becomes key. We’ve got to know not only the parts about Jesus’s life on earth, but what all the Bible says about Him. Without a holistic picture of who He is, we’ll continue to start and stop in fits. As we gain the complete image of all He is and represents, it becomes easier to live out His mission and do His will in our daily lives.
Here’s some more repetition for you. Our problem with following Jesus comes down to two issues: pride and selfishness. Surrendering to Jesus means dying to ourselves. Who wants to do that? We want to be the best we can be and have the most we can have. Dying to ourselves feels a lot like, well, dying! This is the point. Following Jesus was never meant to be easy. Simple yes, but definitely not easy. It’s going to cost you something. Remember, it cost Jesus everything to even make discipleship a possibility for us. Why would we ever expect our lives to be easy in return?
Our pride prods us into believing we can do this on our own. We don’t like admitting we need help. Humility is not high on our list of ambitions. There’s an inner drive pushing us to succeed and be recognized for it, no matter how great or small the accomplishment might be. Pride is the enemy and will lead to our downfall (Proverbs 16:18).
If we’re serious about being His disciple, we will spend the rest of our lives discerning the nuances of following Jesus. This isn’t something you’ll learn in a week, month, or even a year. It’s a life-long pursuit of discovering the depth and richness of His character. The truth is we’ll never know all there is to know about God. It’s why He’s God and we are not. He is incredible, unending, and purely love. He’s exciting, beyond measure, and infinite, yet He desires to be known by you and me! Seek Him; find Him. Discover all you can about Him. If you will make this the unyielding pursuit of your life, I promise you will build an unimaginable legacy and never regret your decision. He is more than worth it. Try Him and see.