Making DisciplesShembull

Preparation 

There are many methods to propagate flowers and plants. There are specific processes for different plants to help them create new ones with the same specifications as the original. A gardener who carefully follows a plant’s development will end up with a shrub genetically identical to the source. 

Jesus said His Father is the Gardener; He is very involved in the process of making disciples who look just like His firstborn Son. According to Romans chapter 8, the Gardener uses every circumstance for the good of those who were invited or appointed to fulfill His purpose, which is for us “to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” With a plant, the gardener is the one who does it all. In the same way, the triune God works in our hearts to receive His word, which will create in us the hope of glory, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus walked His disciples through a process of development and maturing. He prepared the hearts of His disciples so they would be able to recognize their Shepherd. He made sure the disciples would know their Helper when He was no longer physically present. He taught His disciples to trust the Father’s guidance—to depend on the Father for everything—just as He did here on earth. 

Jesus’ disciples were not an exact image of Him when Jesus ascended to Heaven, but when the Holy Spirit came, He reminded them of everything that Jesus had taught them and empowered them to live in the same way Jesus lived. They were conformed to Christ’s image as they allowed Him to renew their minds. 

You and I are discipled or trained by the same Holy Spirit who discipled so many into the likeness of Jesus. We follow in the steps of Peter, Paul, Rev. Billy Graham, and so many others who have walked this earth, trusting the Gardener. 

Now, He invites us to do the same. He wants to use our lives as a source to propagate the life of Jesus into our corner of the world. He’s done it for so many years and, if we’re willing, He will do it again. All we have to do is recognize the voice of the Shepherd, know that the Helper is always with us to guide us, and depend on the Father for everything we encounter. 

Jesus prepares us to live a life that will honor the Father.