FAN OR FOLLOWER? Which one are you?

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Jesus called out His first would-be disciples, who were fishermen, with these simple words:

¹⁹ … “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 NKJV

To the others like Matthew the Tax Collector He simply said “follow me” (Matthew 9:9)

He asked them to do only one thing and that was to “follow Him” and He promised to “make them” fishers of men. They followed Him and did just that – made them Fishers of Men.

Today, the Lord is calling us by His Spirit within us. He is calling us to follow Him as dearly beloved children. Beloved, go beyond just being a fan and become a follower, a disciple of Jesus Christ today! We are to pay attention to what He is communicating to us by His Spirit and adjust our lives accordingly. We are not tasked with the duty or responsibility of making ourselves into anything, we are God’s sons and daughters, partakers of the Father’s Divine nature.

In this family of God that we now belong to, He is the Potter and we are the clay. As sons and daughters have chores and responsibilities in natural family settings, with God’s family it’s no different. He is the one who “makes” us into different vessels fit for His use – as He pleases. Should we fail to follow Him it’s our loss, we miss out on what He would have made us. 

Jesus our Lord said:

²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. – John 10:27 NKJV

So, as His sheep we not only hear His voice, but we follow Him as well. We follow Him wherever He may lead us, and He leads us by His Spirit who is resident within us. The Holy Spirit bears witness with our spirits that because of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of Himself for us and our faith in Him, we are God’s children, holy, righteous and accepted in the Beloved.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. – Romans 8:14:-16 NIV

We are no longer to be lead outwardly by the OT Law or by some man-made set of rules and regulations for us to be accepted by God, in Christ we are already accepted by God. We are now led inwardly by the Holy Spirit who not only knows the mind of Christ, but imparts it to us as well. As we walk in fellowship with the Holy Spirit and follow His leading, we will not have to worry about “making” ourselves into anything, He will “make” us what He created us to be seemingly effortlessly. We will avoid the “pressure to perform” and/or the “trying too hard” syndrome and its ensuing frustrations. Let’s not forget, without Christ we can do nothing.

Beloved, I’m not advocating complacency or apathy in any way, shape or form. One cannot truly follow the Lord’s leading and remain apathetic, ineffective or indifferent in how they live and love on others. I must also hasten to add that being constantly active and involved in everything is not necessarily proof that one is following the Lord’s leading. A healthy balance must be struck, let’s pay attention to what the Spirit is saying to us. 

Source: Google Images

Christ has graced each one of us uniquely and it is He who knows how and where we fit best in His Body – the Church and we can only find our place and be at peace as we follow His leading.

Jesus said “follow me and I will make you…”

My part is to follow Him, His is to “make me…”

And we know that He who has promised is faithful and He will do it! 

Blessings!