Rise: Stepping Up To God's CallSample

A Real Follower ... Follows

Have you ever told Jesus that you will follow him, only to realize that you might not even know what that means?

Thought:

So, you’ve told Jesus that you want to be his follower! How cool! It’s the best decision you will ever make! So, now what? How do you follow Jesus? To follow Jesus, you must simply … follow him! Does that sound too simple? 

Before we became followers of Jesus, we did whatever we wanted with our lives, but now we are choosing to learn a new way to live, a much better way. Jesus tells us that if we want to be his followers, we must give up living our own way, no longer doing things how we feel is best, instead, living the way God wants us to live! 

Simply put, if God says, ‘yes’, then we do it. If he says ‘no’, then we don’t. If he says ‘go’, then we go, if he says ‘stop’, then we stop, and lastly, if he says ‘wait’, then we wait! We must learn who God is, what he expects from us and what he has planned for our lives! How? By praying, reading The Bible and surrounding ourselves with other followers of Jesus who can teach us. As we learn what God wants from us and has for us, we must do our best to follow! It’s time to put your faith into action!

Challenge:

1. GIVE UP YOUR OWN WAY! What would your life look like if you really followed Jesus? Would you treat people differently? Would your attitude or words change? Take a moment to write down the things you would need to give up.
2. FOLLOW JESUS! You became close with your best friend by hanging out with them and making the time to get to know them, right? The same goes with Jesus! Plan to get to know Jesus and how you will follow him!
3. PRAY! Take a moment to pray, “Jesus, help me to follow You today. Empower me to do what You want instead of what I want. Thank You for inviting me to follow You. Amen.”