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When the Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth to preach the gospel of the kingdom of heaven, He commanded people in so many ways.
One way He commanded people which strikes me most is His invitation to His disciples to follow Him.
“And he said to them, “FOLLOW ME, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).
As a result, Simon, Andrew, James and John left their nets and their fishing business to follow Jesus.
Jesus pulled them from their trade and they humbly followed Him. Oh, I could see how humble they were at the dramatic invitation of our great Master.
Saul (Paul) could not resist the glorious invitation of the Lord Jesus after He called him on the road of Damascus to follow Him.
Oh, how the early ministers obediently and gladly followed the Lord Jesus. They followed Him faithfully to the end!
If Jesus commands His disciples everywhere to follow Him, and so the early believers followed Him, then, we have no option but to follow Him too.
We may follow pastors only when we see them following Jesus Christ. However, it is expected that all Christians follow the Lord Jesus 24 hours a day, seven days a week, four weeks a month and 12 months a year.
A loyal minister of God will be obedient to the commands of the Lord Jesus. He will strictly FOLLOW no one else except Jesus – his Master.
Following the Lord will not be difficult for him because he is filled with the Spirit of Christ. He is united with the Lord in one Spirit (1 Corinthians. 6:17).
All people who are genuinely called and obediently follow Jesus are turned into other men; they are transformed by being anointed and given heavenly responsibilities to perform on earth (Mark 1:17).
All Christians, especially ministers are to deny themselves and follow Jesus. This is the Lord’s own command to us.
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily AND FOLLOW ME” (Luke 9:23).
We are to love what He loved. We are to hate what He hated. We are to do what He did. We are to share in His suffering. We are to preach what He preached. Simply, we must follow Jesus!
By James Quansah
