Good morning,
Back in Matthew chapter 4 we have the record of when Jesus called Simon
Peter and his brother Andrew to be disciples.
Matt 4:19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of
men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. NKJV
These verses will give some background for some of the verses that we'll
take a look at ,Lord willing, over the next couple of days.
I wanted first to take a look at a couple of the words in these verses. The
first is "follow". John MacArthur writes, "the command "follow Me" in the
Greek literally means "come here". The original text also has the term
"after", which indicates the place we must come to: "Your place is following
after Me!" This is His chosen place for you."
Peter and Andrew right then and there showed that they were determined to
follow Jesus. MacArthur notes that "the word "followed" carries the meaning
of being committed to imitating the one he or she follows."
From these two words and descriptions show us that our chosen place as
committed Christians is to follow Christ, as imitators of Him.
Today's verses come from Matthew 20 which you may have read over the
weekend. Jesus was telling the disciples that the rulers of this world
"flaunt their authority over people" but HIs true followers are to be
different.
Matthew 20:26 But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a
leader among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first
among you must become your slave. 28 For even the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many." NLT
Churches in America today are trying many different things to "draw" and
attract people into their churches; music, drama and many other things.
Jesus' way was different. HIs way of drawing "unchurched" people to Him was
one of serving and giving of Himself . As we've discussed before, this was
done in the form of preaching, teaching, and healing as He travelled.
Stopping along the way to meet people in the place of their needs.
"Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the
Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our
churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus
attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most
avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic
people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid
church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and
the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that
Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus
d." - Timothy Keller
I'll close with verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians that demonstrates
this.
Eph 5:1-3 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his
dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of
Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing
aroma to God. NLT
That is our charge, to "live a life filled with love, following the example
of Christ". In doing so, we will reach others and draw them into our
churches.
In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of
sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Matt 20:20-29
Jesus Teaches about Serving Others
20 Then the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus
with her sons. She knelt respectfully to ask a favor. 21 "What is your
request?" he asked.
She replied, "In your Kingdom, please let my two sons sit in places of honor
next to you, one on your right and the other on your left."
22 But Jesus answered by saying to them, "You don't know what you are
asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of suffering I am about to
drink?"
"Oh yes," they replied, "we are able!"
23 Jesus told them, "You will indeed drink from my bitter cup. But I have no
right to say who will sit on my right or my left. My Father has prepared
those places for the ones he has chosen."
24 When the ten other disciples heard what James and John had asked, they
were indignant. 25 But Jesus called them together and said, "You know that
the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt
their authority over those under them. 26 But among you it will be
different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, 27
and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. 28 For even
the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his
life as a ransom for many." NLT.
No comments:
Post a Comment