SERVING CHRIST AND FOLLOWING HIM

²⁶ Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me. – John 12:26 NCV

Source: Google Images

This is for everyone who believes in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. By confessing Jesus as Lord, we are willingly submitting ourselves to Him. He is now the Master of our lives and we are His servants and as servants we do nothing but the Master’s will and bidding.

Our Lord gives us very clear instructions - well it's a command actually. If we serve Him, then we must follow Him. We cannot claim to serve Him while going our own way, we cannot claim to serve Him while doing our own thing, we cannot claim to serve Him being full of me, myself and I. To serve Him, we must first be known by Him and know Him for ourselves, we must first establish that relationship and the Good News is, by the perfect sacrifice of Himself on that rugged cross that took away our sin, He has made it possible for us to know Him and be known, accepted and reconciled to Himself.

Now, you’ll notice that little word “must” in this translation? Yeah, that means it’s not an option nor is it a suggestion, it is imperative, there is no way around it, as His servants we MUST follow Him. The implication here is, anyone who doesn't follow Him is not His servant, regardless of any claims they might make. Is it any wonder Jesus said many would come to Him in that day saying we did this and that in your name but He’ll say to them “I never knew you”.  Let’s read that passage:

²² On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?’ ²³ Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.’ – Matthew 7:22 NRSV

That phrase, “I never knew you” implies that these people did not start out in a relationship with the Lord, contrary to what many think. He didn't know them right from the beginning of their “ministries” when they prophesied and cast out demons and did all that ministry stuff in His Name. So it is quite possible to do all that and still not “know” Jesus, how tragic is that. The lesson here is: don’t be fazed by supernatural manifestations, check the fruit, I could go on and on but I digress…

The reason a servant must follow the master is simply so that they are in the master’s presence and ready to serve Him whenever needed. Now how do we follow the Lord Jesus, our Master? We follow Him by obeying His Word, we follow Him by walking in the Spirit and as we do, the Fruit of the Spirit will be evident in our lives, we will be walking in love towards others and drawing them and pointing them to Christ, not to ourselves. Strife, envy, jealousy, suspicion and  selfish ambition will have no place in us.

The Father appreciates everyone who serves Christ, He honors His servants and that honor manifests in different forms, from meeting all our needs to granting us the desires of our hearts. The honor this world has to offer pales in comparison to the honor that the Father bestows on those who willingly serve Him out of love and submission to Christ.

Source: Google Images

We serve God by offering ourselves to be used as His vehicle for reaching out to others with the Good News of Salvation that is through Christ alone, we serve Him as we humbly submit to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to minister and bless others as He pleases through us by His Gifts.

May the grace of God enable us to faithfully serve and follow Christ, our Lord and Master today and everyday. Amen!