PASTOR OLUWASEYI OSANYINBI
Our destination in life is determined by who we follow. We must define clearly where we are going so that we can carefully choose who to follow. We must always understand that the majority is not always right.
It is pathetic to see that there are countless books on leadership and almost none on follower-ship. As such, we don’t really know how to follow, we all want to be leaders.
The concept of follower-ship has to be revisited today. Paul even instructed people to follow him only as he followed Christ.
[biblegateway passage=”MATTHEW 4:18-20″ display=”MATTHEW 4:18-20″]
In the world, there are trade secrets in families that have made such families prosperous. Great enterprises like Coca Cola, Ford, Heinz and so much more thrive on those family secrets. Simon and Andrew were fisher men by virtue of the family they were born into. However, they encountered Jesus and followed Him and they were made fishers of men.
Anyone that follows Jesus will end up being a fisher of men and he is expected to raise other fishers of men. We cannot afford to break the rank and so we must be on our toes to see that people around us are properly raised to follow Jesus.
[biblegateway passage=”MATTHEW 8:18-23; 19:28-30″ display=”MATTHEW 8:18-23; 19:28-30″]
Following Jesus requires that we are ready to go all the way with Him. He usually showed those willing to follow Him the troubles involved so that they could carefully make their choice.
The legitimate cares of this world will always tend to prevent us from following Jesus. Following Jesus comes at a price and we must be willing to pay the price.
Following Jesus cannot wait, it requires haste. It has to start right now till the very end of time. Today is always the day of salvation. We can’t go about our cares and put God on hold.
People always desire to follow Jesus but they do not want to leave other things. Only true disciples follow Jesus unconditionally. There is profit for those who follow Jesus though those profits are usually not evident in the short run.
We must always see beyond the present into the future. We must even see beyond time into eternity. Physical death is not the end of any man. There is life beyond the grave and we must deliberately decide how our eternity should be by the kind of lives we live now.
In following Jesus, we must brace up for persecutions because they are sure to come. Following Jesus is diametrically opposed to the way of the world and that exposes us to persecution.
[biblegateway passage=”LUKE 17:24″ display=”LUKE 17:24″]; [biblegateway passage=”MATTHEW 11:29″ display=”MATTHEW 11:29″]
There are prophecies about the end times being full of lying signs from false Christs. We have got to be very discerning so that we will not fall prey.
Supernatural manifestations are not necessarily indicators of God’s presence. There can be mountain rending winds, fires and quakes without God being in them. God might just be in a still small voice just like in the case of Elijah.
We need to walk and work with Jesus learning how He does things. Many people have the notion of working for God without bothering about what is on the mind of God for them.
There is a yoke for everyone that follows Jesus. We cannot afford to carry Jesus’ yoke and look back. We have to follow Him through to the end. We must learn the unforced rhythms of grace by which we can follow Jesus.
[biblegateway passage=”MATTHEW 7:21-23″ display=”MATTHEW 7:21-23″]
When we follow Jesus, a pleasant destination is guaranteed us. We have to follow Him properly so that He can lead us to the Father. The end point of following Jesus is being with God.
Follower-ship is not about what we say, it is about what we do. Our actions allude to our follower-ship more than our speeches.
In following Jesus, we must fix our gaze on him without flinching. When Peter got distracted from Jesus, he started sinking. We cannot follow Jesus if we don’t constantly look at Him.
In following our leaders, we cannot afford to do it blindly. We should only follow them to the extent to which they follow Jesus. That becomes impossible if we don’t know Jesus ourselves. We need to know Jesus to know when our leaders are not following Him.
Prophesying, doing signs and wonders and working miracles are good in themselves but if they are done with wrong motives or without divine authorization, they may not earn any points with God.
In following Jesus, we must watch our hearts. Whoever wants to follow Jesus must follow Him with a pure heart. Our eternity is only guaranteed with God when we follow Jesus.