What does it look like to be a follower of Christ? What does a life that is devoted to God look like? When I think of a follower of Christ, I think of the Apostles. They were told by Jesus himself to leave everything and follow Him. Then, they followed him wherever He went. They traveled on far and long journeys, met many people, some who loved them and Jesus, but others hated them and wanted them dead. They faced many obstacles. They saw miracles happen right before their eyes, they held the hand of Jesus, heard His words, saw Him love on every person who came to Him. They were witnesses to all of who Jesus was. Then, one day, they witnessed his being killed, hung on a cross, and buried. After all they had been through with him, they had to watch him die.
I can only imagine what this life was like for them. In my mind, I would think it was probably full of the most beautiful moments they could ever imagine. The highest highs. But I believe it was also full of hurt and pain at seeing their God in earthly form being mocked, chased by those who wanted Him dead, tortured, and eventually killed. But the hard parts weren’t only for Jesus, the apostles faced many of the same tough moments in their own lives. Being sent to prison, put to death, chased, spit on, hated. This was the life of an apostle. A life that had to be filled with so much faith, and undying amount of faith. Love, love for Jesus, enough to follow Him to the ends of the Earth, and a love for all of humanity (this took some time to learn for most of them). They had to be full of courage, courage to fight when life called for it, to pick up their cross, courage to sit through being put into prison, courage to stand when other knelt, courage to love even when they were hated. This to me, is the life of a follower of Christ.
In today’s world, we can look to the Bible to be guided about what we are to do, how we are to act as a follower of Christ. The word holds it all. We can read all about those apostles and what they faced, what they saw, how they acted and reacted, how they found that courage in the most awful situations. Their stories are there to be a map for us. We look to them, we read their stories and maybe we think ‘my goodness, how did they get through that?’ But God is calling us to see and understand that what they went through was terrible at times, beautiful at other times, but they depended on God no matter what, and that is what we are to do.
Every morning my kids and I recite a couple verses to start our day. The first is found in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” And the other is found in Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?” These two verses speak of the God that we serve and I want my kids to know who He is and the God that we believe in. Starting our days off with filling our spirits full of truth is one way we can be like an apostle of Christ. Going into our prayer closets and closing the door behind us, bearing our souls to God, praying until He is finished speaking, this is how we can be an apostle of Christ. Giving an extra $5.00 to the waitress, a hug to someone who looks down, babysitting for the mom who needs a break, cooking a meal for someone who is sick, being there for a friend who is facing a tough time in their life, praising God even in those tough moments, falling to your knees and lifting up someone in intercessory prayer, smiling at a stranger, praying for a stranger, digging into the Word…these are all ways we can not only be more like a follower of Christ but also these are things that God himself did and He is the ultimate example of being a good human and the best follower of God, right?
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the difference in your life or another’s life, but sometimes it’s the big things too. The best way to know how to navigate this life we live is to meet with God on a personal level, ask Him “God what is it you would ask of me today? God, I want your will, not my own, direct my path, lead me, guide me to the hurting, the broken, and give me the words to speak as you do.” That is being a follower of Christ, asking for Him to lead you. Because after all, a follower needs a leader. Let’s not be followers of anything in this world. Let’s pick up our cross and begin a life as a follower of the only leader we should be behind, God.
He gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and Wings.
I can only imagine what this life was like for them. In my mind, I would think it was probably full of the most beautiful moments they could ever imagine. The highest highs. But I believe it was also full of hurt and pain at seeing their God in earthly form being mocked, chased by those who wanted Him dead, tortured, and eventually killed. But the hard parts weren’t only for Jesus, the apostles faced many of the same tough moments in their own lives. Being sent to prison, put to death, chased, spit on, hated. This was the life of an apostle. A life that had to be filled with so much faith, and undying amount of faith. Love, love for Jesus, enough to follow Him to the ends of the Earth, and a love for all of humanity (this took some time to learn for most of them). They had to be full of courage, courage to fight when life called for it, to pick up their cross, courage to sit through being put into prison, courage to stand when other knelt, courage to love even when they were hated. This to me, is the life of a follower of Christ.
In today’s world, we can look to the Bible to be guided about what we are to do, how we are to act as a follower of Christ. The word holds it all. We can read all about those apostles and what they faced, what they saw, how they acted and reacted, how they found that courage in the most awful situations. Their stories are there to be a map for us. We look to them, we read their stories and maybe we think ‘my goodness, how did they get through that?’ But God is calling us to see and understand that what they went through was terrible at times, beautiful at other times, but they depended on God no matter what, and that is what we are to do.
Every morning my kids and I recite a couple verses to start our day. The first is found in Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; I will rejoice and be glad in it.” And the other is found in Psalm 27:1, “The Lord is my light and salvation-whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life-of whom shall I be afraid?” These two verses speak of the God that we serve and I want my kids to know who He is and the God that we believe in. Starting our days off with filling our spirits full of truth is one way we can be like an apostle of Christ. Going into our prayer closets and closing the door behind us, bearing our souls to God, praying until He is finished speaking, this is how we can be an apostle of Christ. Giving an extra $5.00 to the waitress, a hug to someone who looks down, babysitting for the mom who needs a break, cooking a meal for someone who is sick, being there for a friend who is facing a tough time in their life, praising God even in those tough moments, falling to your knees and lifting up someone in intercessory prayer, smiling at a stranger, praying for a stranger, digging into the Word…these are all ways we can not only be more like a follower of Christ but also these are things that God himself did and He is the ultimate example of being a good human and the best follower of God, right?
Sometimes it’s the little things that make the difference in your life or another’s life, but sometimes it’s the big things too. The best way to know how to navigate this life we live is to meet with God on a personal level, ask Him “God what is it you would ask of me today? God, I want your will, not my own, direct my path, lead me, guide me to the hurting, the broken, and give me the words to speak as you do.” That is being a follower of Christ, asking for Him to lead you. Because after all, a follower needs a leader. Let’s not be followers of anything in this world. Let’s pick up our cross and begin a life as a follower of the only leader we should be behind, God.
He gives us Roots so we can Fly. Roots and Wings.
