People who follow Jesus Christ are called disciples.
“And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him.” Matthew 5:1
His disciples came to Him. That’s what disciples do — they go where the Lord goes. They follow Him. They want to be with Him. Their every thought is surrounded by the desire to follow Him. Their highest goal in life is to be with Him.
“Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.” Matthew 8:3
One of the primary messages of the New Testament is that people who believe in Jesus Christ follow Him. They watch, listen, think, learn and follow.
The word “disciple” means a learner. The original word in the New Testament is the Greek mathetes — “a learner, indicating thought accompanied by endeavor.” A disciple of Jesus Christ learns about their Lord and what He wants them to do, then does something about what they learn. A disciple is not someone who just knows. Disciples hear, learn and do.
I used to think Christians were not thinkers; that they just did what they were told to do without using their brains to search and consider what is truth. I thought of Christians as non-thinkers. I took pride in my atheism believing it made me a “free thinker.” Then I became a Christian and found out my brain did not turn to mush when I believed in God. In fact, I learned for the first time in my life I really could think for myself. I wasn’t following what the world believed, said and did. God placed His Holy Spirit inside of me and spoke to me through His Word. I heard from God, caught His wisdom and lived a life far better than anything I could have ever come up with by myself. Talk about being a free thinker!
Hearing from God is just the start of what it means to be a disciple of Christ. Hearing should lead to thinking. Thinking should lead to learning. Learning should lead to doing.
- Hearing
- Thinking
- Learning
- Doing
It’s a simple process, but it’s not easy — and it’s not quick. It takes effort and time to grow as a disciple of Jesus Christ. However, I can’t think of any better way to spend my time on earth. Jesus gives us the “gift of eternal life” when we become His disciple. Our short time on earth is just the beginning of an everlasting love song with Jesus on the throne of our heart.
Blessings!
Mark McGee
GraceLife Blog 