I was scheduled to fill the pulpit at the Nazarene Church next Sunday, Jan. 28th, but got a call this past Thursday that the speaker lined up for this Sunday wouldn’t be able to make it due to health issues and I was asked to preach yesterday instead. (Note: The church has a new pastor coming but he got delayed in his arrival by several weeks).  I was excited to see how God obviously knew I would be there on the 21st instead of the 28th, what my message would be about, and how He orchestrated some of the things that led up to the sermon.. I spoke about how Jesus wants true followers and not just fans and what it means to follow Jesus.  Well, one of the choruses we sang was “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,” and then one of the church members, who had just turned 90, shared his life story and related how he came to know Jesus as Savior but later really surrendered to following Him and as he put it, “Following Jesus completely changed my life.”

     I shared with the congregation what our “job description” is as a believer.. It is pretty simple. When Jesus was “walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men'” (Mt. 4:18,19).   Nineteen times in the Gospels we see Jesus repeating that command: “Follow Me.” He wasn’t interested in attracting a crowd of fans to cheer for Him, He wanted those who would “deny self, take up their cross and follow Him” (Mt. 16:24).. He wanted those who would be willing to deny the attractions of the world system ruled by Satan and the lusts of their old nature, and be willing daily to lay down their lives for Christ if need be.   Jesus wasn’t here to win a popularity contest but to speak the truth and to “give Himself as a ransom for all” (I Tim. 2:6). 

      To follow Him means to get out of the stands, off the sidelines and “onto the playing field.”  Jesus wants those who are willing to be involved in His commission to go into all the world and “make disciples” (Mt. 28:19). A “disciple” is a “follower” and if we are going to make disciples, we must be one who is following Jesus, not just an enthusiastic admirer (a fan).  Many are looking for a gospel that will offer them everything but cost them nothing.  While it is true that Jesus did all the work in paying the penalty for sin, following Him means allowing Him to “interfere” with every aspect of our lives on a daily basis. Too often we think we can “compartmentalize Christianity and give Jesus a “piece of the pie,”  but, if He isn’t “Lord of all, He isn’t Lord at all.”  Paul writes in Col. 1:18: “He is also head of the body, the church, and He is the beginning, the first-born from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything.”   When we decide to follow Jesus, that means allowing Him to “interfere” with every aspect of our lives, just as He did with the Apostles who followed Him.  It means we are “all in” for Him, holding nothing back, keeping no areas that are “off limits” to Him. 

     “All to Jesus, I surrender, all to Him I freely give; I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily live.      All to Jesus, I surrender, humbly at His feet I bow; worldly pleasures all forsaken, take me, Jesus, take  me now.   All to Jesus, I surrender,  make me, Savior, wholly Thine; Let me feel the Holy Spirit–truly know that  Thou art mine.   All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee; Fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessings  fall on me.

     I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.”

                                                                                    …..Judson W. Van de Venter

So, are you a true follower of Jesus or just a fan?  As believers our “job description” is to “follow Jesus.” 

Forever His,

Pastor Dave