“Jesus came and told His disciples, ‘I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this. I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’” (Matthew 28:18-20 NLT)
Did you notice I left out a couple of words in Jesus’ command? “To obey!” “to obey all the commands I have given you.” A disciple is a learner and a follower to be sure, but it’s all for nought if they aren’t also taught to obey. I can know the Roman Road like the back of my hand, but if I’m not obedient to the Lord to Whom it directs me, it may lead me down a road that doesn’t end in heaven.
Why is obedience so critical? Because obedience is the example our Master set. Paul reminds us in Philippians 2:7-8: “Instead, He gave up His divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.”
It doesn’t matter how important you think you are, how vital you believe your existence is to mankind, when you come to Jesus you’re stepping into the presence of royalty and one day, with every other knee, you will bow in humble recognition that He is everything and you are nothing. A disciple is one who recognizes that Jesus has earned and deserves our allegiance, including, but not limited to, our life.
Nothing is more important than He is; nothing deserves our devotion more than Him. To put ANYTHING above our love for and devotion to the Lord Jesus is to misunderstand the purpose and meaning of discipleship. “But what about my spouse and children?” Behind Jesus. “What about my job? My friends? My hobbies?” Behind Jesus. “What about anything else, any other thing I can think of as an excuse not to give myself fully to the Lord?” Behind Jesus.
There’s a sense in which it’s all or nothing with the Lord. Jesus said in Matthew 6:33: “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need.” Please don’t read that too quickly. Did you notice the Lord followed up “the Kingdom of God” with a very helpful and descriptive word – “He!” “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and HE will give you everything you need.” The Kingdom of God isn’t an organization which we join or to which we belong, it’s a Person, a Savior whom we follow and to Whom we owe devotion.
We owe our allegiance to Jesus because we owe our life to Him. He purchased our salvation, our eternal life, on the Cross with His priceless blood. How do I know His blood is priceless? Because Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1:18-19: “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.”
The word Peter used that comes into our English language as “precious,” is a word that means of incalculable worth. You can’t set a measure of value for it because its value is beyond measurement.
As people of God we’re not following an ideology, system of belief, or religious organization. We’re following the Son of God, God who became Man in the Person of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Christ! He deserves our best, “our utmost for His highest,” as Brother Oswald Chambers would say, for He doesn’t call us to be our best selves or a better version of ourselves, He calls us to become like Him. That’s Who we’re called to obey! Wanna be His disciple? Submit your will to His and learn to walk in obedience to His directives.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 