Come and Follow Jesus

When Jesus began to gather the people who would change the world, he did not start with a strategy or a program. He started with nearness. Mark tells us that he went up on a mountainside, called those he wanted, and appointed twelve for a very specific reason.

He appointed twelve that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.

Mark 3:14-15

Notice the order. Before they were sent out, before they preached a single sermon, before they had authority over anything, they were simply to be with him. That small phrase holds the whole secret of the Christian life. Following Jesus, being with Jesus, is the key to everything else that follows.

The one thing always present

Think about the miracles of Jesus. Faith is important, but faith was not present on every occasion when Jesus healed. Compassion is important, but even compassion was not named every time the power of God broke into a situation. There was only one thing present every single time the kingdom of God was demonstrated: the King himself was present.

It was when Jesus arrived that the people who sat in darkness saw a great light. His presence changed the atmosphere. And that is exactly why being with him matters so much for you. Only by following Jesus, by staying near to him, can you carry his presence into every situation you walk into: at work, at school, in church, in your family.

When you carry his presence, then your faith has a chance to work. Then your compassion has a chance to work. Then the words you speak and the prayers you pray have a chance to work, because you are not operating alone. You are carrying the King of the kingdom with you. You are his follower. You are abiding in him and he is abiding in you.

This is why nearness is not a spiritual luxury reserved for a few. It is the difference between striving in our own strength and letting the life of God flow through us. A branch does not work up fruit by effort; it simply stays connected to the vine. In the same way, the point is not how impressive we are, but whose presence we are carrying into the room. Stay close, and his power has room to move.

So how do we follow Jesus? How do we take up our cross daily so that we can introduce the King to our world? Let me share three simple things the Gospels show us.

Let compassion move you

When Jesus saw the great crowd that had run ahead to meet him, the Bible says he was moved with compassion, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Out of that compassion came teaching, and eventually the feeding of five thousand men from five loaves and two fish. Almost every time Jesus performed a miracle, it flowed from compassion.

Compassion is a feeling of genuine pity and empathy for another person, so deep that you would want to give yourself in exchange. The old translations call it the bowels of mercy. The best picture is what a mother feels for a nursing child, or what a parent feels for a son or daughter. They would rather give themselves than watch that child suffer.

Allow yourself to feel that. When you begin to feel deeply for people, an opportunity opens to demonstrate the nearness of God's kingdom. Again and again the Gospels say it: he had compassion on the multitudes; he was moved with compassion and healed their sick; he had compassion on the blind and touched them; he had compassion on the widow of Nain. He even touched the leper, moved with compassion, against the rules of his day.

But where does this kind of love come from? It comes from spending time with Jesus in the secret place. You cannot spend all your time with television, with entertainment, with the noise of the world, and expect to have a heart of compassion. Love is what keeps you praying when some are healed and others are not, so that instead of blaming the person you go back to God in tears and say, Lord, show mercy, use me more.

Depend on the Holy Spirit, and use what you have

Following Jesus also means accepting your own inadequacy. On your own, you are not enough, and that is fine. It simply means you must lean entirely on the Holy Spirit. Learn to use whatever you have: a simple prayer, the laying on of hands, a bit of anointing oil, a word spoken in Jesus' name. Lift it up, release God's blessing, and step out.

And if nothing seems to happen, that does not make God's word untrue. It simply means you are still growing, and you will get better with practice. One minister told the story of praying for nearly a thousand people early in his ministry, and each time nothing seemed to happen. Every terminally ill person he prayed for died. Yet he kept praying, because he knew it was not that God was unwilling; he was simply not yet effective at cooperating with what God wanted to do.

Then one day he came to God and said, I give up. And God said to him, Wonderful, now you are ready. You have been in the way all along. That is the posture of a follower: not self-reliance, but a constant, continual seeking to be filled and led by the Spirit of God.

See what the Father is doing

Jesus said he only did what he saw his Father doing.

The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do.

John 5:19

Even when people around him suggested natural solutions, Jesus stayed sensitive to what his Father was already at work on. When your heart of compassion is moved, it is often best to slow down and become quiet in your spirit, so you can sense what the Father is doing. Is he bringing healing? Is he calming a storm? Is he working a fresh miracle?

Imagine what would have been lost if Jesus had rationalized like his disciples and missed what the Father was doing. This is why it is so important that we learn to live in the Spirit, to stay clear of sin, and to be led, for it is the Spirit who takes the things of the Father and shows them to us.

And when you see it, what do you do? You call it out. This is where faith is spelled R-I-S-K. Only someone who has no reputation to protect except the name of Jesus can speak up. Many times we sense something drop into our spirit, but we are afraid to speak, and so we see nothing. Following Jesus means that when you see, you act.

Do whatever he tells you

Finally, following Jesus means listening for instructions. So often in the Gospels there is a word: rise up and walk; go wash in the pool; stretch out your hand. This is where faith comes in. Faith is not the first thing in seeing signs and wonders in our lives; it is the last. First we are with him, then we feel his compassion, then we see what the Father is doing, and then we do whatever he tells us to do.

The Bible says the kingdom is received like a little child. It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and let the kingdom come near through your obedient, trusting hands.

This is our heart as a church: to introduce Jesus to people, and to equip people to follow him. Because only by following Jesus, only by being with him, do we stand a chance of seeing his power move in our world. If you are just beginning, you do not need to have it all figured out. You only need to draw near. Come, and follow Jesus. He is calling those he wants, and the invitation has your name on it.