The Four Calls on Every Christian’s LifeSýnishorn

What Does Jesus Want Us to Do?

When my children were toddlers, giving them specific instructions and constant redirections made sense. They were still learning right from wrong, discovering cause and effect, and developing self-control.

Now that they’re all in elementary and middle school, they don’t need me to spell everything out for them. They’re old enough to figure some things out on their own—based on their experience and the guidance I’ve given them—and I often expect them to do so. Not only does this save me a ton of time and headache, but it also encourages my children to learn to make wise decisions for themselves—a skill they’ll need to have someday when I’m not around.

Reading the Bible, we see God follow a similar pattern with the Israelites. In the Old Testament, particularly in the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, God gives His people incredibly detailed instructions for resolving interpersonal conflicts, building and carrying the tabernacle, offering a variety of sacrifices, and interacting with the surrounding nations.

These detailed instructions would have been very helpful for a new nation that truly didn’t know what God expected and would have been tempted to absorb the behaviors of the surrounding pagan nations. Israel’s future judges and kings would have appreciated clear directions to help them lead the people well.

Once we reach the New Testament, however, Jesus seems less interested in laying out a detailed list of specific rules and regulations for the people to follow.

The religious rulers of the day—the Pharisees—already had a detailed list of rules and guidelines. They’d gotten so caught up in trying to follow every individual rule perfectly that they forgot why they were following the rules in the first place. They completely missed the point!

So, in the New Testament, rather than handing out a comprehensive list of individual rules and regulations, Jesus gives His people four general commands.

In addition to asking us to love God and love others (Matthew 22:37-40), Jesus calls His followers to:

1. Repent,

2. Believe in Him,

3. Follow Him, and

4. Make disciples.

We’ll look at each of these more in-depth over the next four days.

According to John 16:12–13, why didn’t Jesus give us a detailed list of everything we need to know and do right?