Who are you following?

Each day Im finding that more and more of my friends are joining twitter. One of the things that I enjoy about twitter is looking at who other people are following. Usually its a mix of celebrities, friends and family. While most people would consider twitter to just be another social media craze which will fade, I think it shows a good representation of our lives. Through our twitter feed we are able to follow the lives of other people will choose. Ultimately who we follow defines who we are!

Jesus called each and every one of us to follow him. Jesus said in Matthew 16:24 -

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

This is our fundamental calling in life. These are the very words of our Lord and Savior! But if we are are to be followers of Jesus, we must be going in the same direction as he is. It is pretty hard to follow someone if you are actually going down a different path.

In Matthew 4:18-20 we see the calling of the first disciples -

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen.  Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him.

These people were called by Jesus to leave their jobs, leave their family, leave the security of the life they have and follow Him. This takes a serious faith!

So how do you become a follower of Jesus? We can look at the previous scripture and break it up to see what we need to do to be a follow of Jesus Christ

1) Follow Me
We need to learn to follow Jesus closely. If we learn to stick close to Jesus, when He changes direction we will not have any problems staying on track. But sometimes we are lazy and we don't follow Jesus closely, we dont read His word daily and we gradually begin to follow from a distance. Maybe we only hear His word once a week when we are in church, but how can you truly follow Jesus if you are so far away from him. Its just like using twitter, when you chose to follow someone, you receive an insight into their lives. But if you don't read twitter frequently, you will not have that intimate relationship

2) I Will Make You
If you just follow Jesus, He will make us...we no longer need to rely on our own personal strengths. We need not worry that our effort is not enough. Before I gave my life to Jesus I would get quite stressed that I wouldnt be able to do certain things in life, whether it was a difficult exam, find a job, be successful in life. But when I came into relationship with Christ, I realised that everything comes from Jesus, as Proverbs 3:5-6 says -

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.

For we must acknowledge that we are all here for a purpose and God will give us all the abilities we need to fulfill that purpose as it is stated in Ephesians 2:10 -

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

3) Fisher Of Men
When we make the decision to follow Christ, we are called to be people of influence. We are called to make a difference in the world, we are called to be the light in this world. This is said by Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16 -

"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

4) Immediately
Jesus has called us to follow him immediately. Not later today, not when we feel like it and its convenient for us...but right now! But the problem is we can put other things above God, we put other priorities first. But Jesus has called us to give up everything else and follow Him just as it says in Matt 16:24 which I already referenced above -

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

The final thing I want to ask is - Who is the Jesus Christ that you are following? Are you just following a Jesus who is a good friend, a wise teacher, a kind man, a guy who helps you in hard times?

We follow a Jesus who rose again and wants an intimate relationship with us daily!