Being Followers of Jesus
We talk about being Christians, but maybe, we should talk about being followers of Christ. After all, just what does it mean to be a Christian. I am afraid it means different things to different people. The word is only used a few times of believers in the New Testament. A Christian is really a person who is like Jesus. It means to be a true follower of Christ. So what happens when we become followers of Christ. Yes, we are changed by the power of the Spirit. We are new creations in Him. Therefore, the old things are passed away, and new things come. The new things are what we do to follow Jesus faithfully. We see these things in the book of Acts, when over 3,000 people decided to follow Jesus on the day of Pentecost. (Acts 2:42) Luke told us what happened. The believers devoted themselves to doing certain important things. They were devoted to learning the right teaching from the apostles. They were devoted to fellowship and the breaking of bread from house to house in worship, and to prayer. I believe if Christians would be devoted to these things today, we would truly be followers of Jesus for all the world to see and to come to know our Lord.
Notice that we are told that teaching is very important. We need to believe the right things, and we need to know why we believe what we believe. Jesus taught the apostles, and they taught the early church, so that those teachings have been passed down to us today. Of course, we have the entire New Testament to learn the correct teachings from now, too. Then, they spent time together in fellowship with other believers constantly. They ate together in their homes. They worshipped together in homes. They supported each other. All of us need to grow, and we need each other to pray for us and help us in that growth. Finally, they were constantly praying for themselves, for the church, and for other people to come to know Jesus. Prayer is vital if we are following Christ. We have to talk with Him about everything, and we need to hear from Him our directions about what to do in His service. I believe if we will do these things like they did, we will be followers of Christ and go around living and loving like Jesus. I pray that each of us will be devoted to Jesus and to doing these basic things as we follow Him daily.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Acts 4-6.