Be with, become like, do
When I was a child, I had many heroes. I wanted to be these people because they were cool! They were mostly fictitious, larger than life characters I saw on TV or at the cinema.
From Mr Benn and The Dukes of Hazard to Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, I was fascinated by them all! With a vivid creative imagination, I would re-inact their stories and create my own adventures!
As I got older, my heroes changed as I discovered incredible real women and men. From arts to politics, famous or not, these people I deeply admire and respect.
When I became a Christian the most important person I discovered was Jesus. I had heard stories about him from my parents and in Sunday School, but now, I not only read about him in the Bible, but started to have a one-to-one relationship with him.
His story in the Bible is amazing! Everything he did and said had an impact with those he was interacting with. In the New Testament book of Matthew, the author ells of how he encountered Jesus…
“As Jesus went from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. ‘Follow me,’ he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.”
This brief conversation was an absolute game changing moment for Matthew. We don’t know if Matthew had heard about Jesus prior to this meeting. But on that day whilst at work, Jesus came along and said two words which changed everything: ‘Follow me’.
Matthew joined the group of the original 12 disciples who ‘followed’ Jesus very closely becoming a small mobile community. It was this group who ended up changing the world!
As Christians, we too are called to follow Jesus first and foremost. It may mean a change in job, like Matthew, but for most it will be a change in priorities and perspective.
So how do we ‘follow’ Jesus today? I heard it put very simply in these three ways:
Be with Jesus
Become like Jesus
Do what Jesus did
I found this both helpful and challenging! For me, reading about Jesus and talking and listening to him in prayer is really helpful.
What about you? How do you spend time with Jesus? What does becoming like Jesus look like? Where can you do what he did?
May God help us all in becoming more like Jesus!
God bless
Gary Bastin - Hope Community Church leader