30 Days of HeartworkSample

Follow Me

HEART //

Follow Me. These two words from Jesus have life-changing implications for anyone who accepts them. When Jesus first called the disciples, he was calling them to give up everything they had ever known. When he called, they immediately “left their nets and followed him.” Their nets symbolized their career, their ambitions, and their lives. As we talked about in the first couple of weeks of 30 Days of Heartwork, following Jesus is a call to let go. It is a call to die to ourselves and to find a new identity in Christ. It is a call to live like Jesus.

God sent his Son to the world on a rescue mission... Jesus came for people. He came to bring hope to the hopeless. He came to seek and save the lost. Sometimes, if you've grown up or are immersed in a Christian culture where you only meet and know other believers, it's easy to forget that! But, when Jesus called the first disciples, he called them to join him on his mission! When we decide to follow Jesus, it’s not just a ticket to Heaven; it’s an invitation to a journey with him. So, make sure you're regularly asking, "Where are we going?" and then follow him.

So often, we minimize the call to follow Jesus to just reading the Bible, praying, or going to church. Of course, those are great things, important things! But the call to follow him also means reaching out to those who are weak, to those who are looked down upon by society, and to those without hope. Throughout the gospels, we see Jesus constantly spending time with those in need. We see him constantly telling others about the good news that freedom is for them. If we are not actively spending our lives on behalf of others, then are we really following Jesus? New Testament scholar Scot McKnight puts it this way, “Those who aren't following Jesus aren't his followers. It's that simple. Followers follow, and those who don't follow aren't followers. To follow Jesus means to follow Jesus into a society where justice rules, where love shapes everything. To follow Jesus means to take up his dream and work for it.”

WORK //

Today, spend a few minutes looking through the Gospels in your Bible (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) and find a few things that Jesus called his followers to do. Make a list that you can add to whenever you’re reading the Gospels in the coming weeks. Think of one practical way to live out one of the commands you read today.