Follow Me

I had the opportunity to attend our church’s women’s conference today. It was a really nice time to be away from the responsibility of home, to sit at the feet of the Lord in worship, hear the Word of God and visit with my very good friend at lunch. The theme of the conference was “Follow Me” based on the Scripture Luke 9:23 which reads, “Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Sandy MacIntosh was the first speaker. She talked about the three parts to this verse. First, is the denial of self. She pointed out that it is a choice. The verse says “IF anyone would come after me”. We must choose to give up our way for His will in our life.

Her second point was that we are to take up our cross daily. The verb is in the continual form. It is not a once and for all action. She shared a story from A.W. Tozer. He had said that in every heart there is a throne and a cross. We remain on the throne until we put ourselves on the cross. Paul aid that he could boast in nothing but the cross of Christ. This is to be our motto as well. We are to resign all of our rights to ourselves, our time, our talents, and our plans and surrender them all to the Lord.

In his New Testament Commentary, Warren Wiersbe explains that the “cross was a symbol of shame, guilt, suffering and rejection. There could be no more despicable way to die. Crucifixion was not mentioned in polite conversation. Jesus laid down the stern requirements for discipleship. We must first say no to ourselves - not simply to pleasures or possessions, but to self - and then take up our cross to follow Christ daily. This means to be identified with Him in surrender, suffering and sacrifice.” We are to yield ourselves to God and let Him do the rest.

Finally, Sandy spoke about the third part which says, “follow me”. Her point was that when we follow Jesus, we are transformed and begin to look, sound and talk like Him - the One we are following.

June Hesterly was our second speaker. She had some wonderful insights to add to this verse. June pointed out that there are two invitations in verse 23. The first is an invitation for salvation - the forgiveness of sins and the promise of eternity with God. While many people will accept this invitation and call themselves Christians, some of those people will not accept the second invite.

The second invitation is to follow Jesus and be His disciple. Warren Wiersbe writes that “a disciple is more than a student who learns lessons by means of lectures and books. He is one who learns by living and working with his teacher in a daily ‘hands on’ experience. Too many Christians are content to be listeners who gain a lot of knowledge but who have never put that knowledge into practice.” They are hearers of the Word, but not doers (James 1:22).

She mentioned that there are four parts to following Christ. To begin with, God has called each of us individually, knowing our hearts. In my study of John this week it was brought up that God prepares our hearts ahead of time to receive His message of salvation so we will be ready to accept the offer to follow Him. Next, June said that when we choose to follow Christ, He asks us to live for eternal things, not temporal ones; storing up treasures in heaven. Also, we are to be transformed and renewed by our walk with the Lord. Finally, we are told to expect trials and tribulations.

To do this we must have faith. Faith means we don’t know all the facts about where we’re going, but we go anyway. Much like Ruth who agreed to follow her mother-in-law, Naomi. She gave up all she knew and who she was to take on Naomi’s way of life, place of residence and even her God.

The result of following Christ is we become more like Him. We begin to be filled with “Son-ripened fruit”. And as a result, we will draw others to Christ with the sweet fragrance of our life.

She ended by stating that in this world we will all follow someone or something. We have to decide if we will follow the temporary things of the world or the eternal Christ.

After lunch, Sarah MacIntosh, Sandy’s daughter-in-law, shared her testimony and songs all related to trusting the Lord in the midst of great trials. Her songs focused on God’s faithfulness and who we are in Him.

This was a very timely theme for me. I have recently realized that I have been judging my walk with the Lord based on everything but Him. The only way I can truly follow Jesus and be more like Him is to keep my eyes fixed on Him, and Him alone. My greatest desire is truly to follow Him with my whole heart, to reflect His glory and for others to see Him in me. Wiersbe adds that “discipleship is a daily discipline: we follow Jesus a step at a time, a day at a time. One of the best things about life is that we can take it a day at a time (Deuteronomy 33:25).” Thankfully, the Lord is patient with me and His mercies are new every morning. So when I, like Paul, do the things I don’t want to do and don’t do the things I want to do, God forgives me and I am restored once again by His grace. I am thankful for another day to follow Him!