What does it mean to follow Jesus?
Deciding to follow Jesus will be the biggest, most profound choice you will ever make. Even bigger than believing what Jesus accomplished for us on the cross, or believing He is who He said He is. Following Jesus will affect every part of your life. And yes, you will have to change and rearrange some things in your life as a result. That is the reality of following Him. There is no sugar-coating it.
In the gospel of Matthew Jesus tells His disciples that, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt 16:23-25) The only time a person would “take up a cross” in that day was to carry it to his own death. Jesus is saying His followers must follow Him to death, but He also qualifies this by adding the statement, “but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”
Jesus wanted His followers to know that His road was not the easy road. They must be willing to sacrifice everything related to this world for the sake of following Him. But by doing this, the reward would be finding your true identity in Christ, becoming a son or daughter of the King of Kings, and ultimately enjoying heaven with Him (and everyone who believed in Him down through the ages) for eternity. The reward, according to the scriptures, will be truly beyond our imaginations.
However this important point bears repeating: Jesus did not die so that you would be comfortable here on earth. He died for your freedom from death and sin. While we are here on earth we must work to be good examples of Christ, doing His work through helping others and spreading the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus. If we follow Him we will receive His peace, and the scripture says we can ask for all things and He will give them to us. He will never leave you behind, He will never cheat you or be dishonest. And He will always provide for you.
For more biblical resources regarding what it means to follow Jesus, read the scriptures below:
Matthew 16:23-25
1 Peter 2:21
John 12:26
John 10:24-30
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