Ways to become a disciple of Jesus

In my previous blog entry, I wrote about how there are no excuses for not living for Jesus. We are all good at making excuses, but they all stink. It’s like the old saying, excuses are like armpits. Everyone has them and they all stink.

The question now is, how can we grow in the Lord and totally commit our lives to Jesus. In other words, truly become disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let’s start with the Great Commission. Anyone who knows me, knows this is among my favorite verses in the Bible. It is the lifestyle Jesus calls us to. More than that, it’s a lifestyle He expects and commands us to live. And from nearly 35 years of experience, I can attest it is the greatest life ever.

We read in 1 John 5:3, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” The Apostle John, who wrote this verse, lived 93 years and he never regretted living for Jesus. I’m 57 and I’ve lived nearly 35 of my years for Jesus. I’ll never go back to how I lived before I surrendered my life to Jesus. I have tasted and seen the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8), so there’s no turning back.

Our Lord’s Great Commission is Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’”

That’s the Great Commission. It’s a command from Jesus to His believers. It’s not the Great Suggestion. It’s the Great Commission.

There are three participles of the Great Commission - going, baptizing, and teaching - and one main verb - make disciples. The one point is to make disciples by “going,” “baptizing,” and “teaching.” Reading it in the Greek it would be more like, “As you are going, make disciples. As you are baptizing, make disciples. As you are teaching, make disciples.”

Where do we start? First by surrendering our lives to Jesus and putting our faith in Jesus alone for salvation, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Then we start learning more about Him, which is a never-ending process. Remember, God is eternal. We will keep on learning about Him, and the more we do, the closer we come to Him and the more we love Him.

So what’s next. There’s being baptized, prayer, Bible reading and studying, worship, fellowship with other believers, serving the Lord by serving others, etc. That may seem overwhelming, but it’s not. Here’s how I’ve broken it down over the years.

My high school JV basketball coach, Coach Coleman, used to tell us to “take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves.” He meant that we needed to box out our man for the rebound, put a hand in the face of the shooter, make accurate passes, follow through on your shot, etc. Those were the little things. The big thing was winning. If we did the little things, we would win more than we lost. I’ve used Coach Coleman’s philosophy in my life as a Great Commission Christian.

Here are some of the “little things,” which actually aren’t so little. They’re all big things, but remember, the big thing is growing closer to Jesus and becoming more like Him by becoming His disciple and making more disciples.

Do the following:

• Read the Bible daily – find a “Read the Bible Through the Year” schedule at your church, the Bible app, in some Bibles. Ask me and I’ll send you one.
• Read daily devotionals, but don’t let that be your Bible reading. Use it as a jumpstart to your daily reading.
  
  
• Study the Bible. Always ask the Holy Spirit to teach you every time you read the Bible. Use commentaries, Bible dictionaries, and other available resources. A good study Bible like the ESV Study Bible and the NASB MacArthur Study Bibles are invaluable resources.
  
  
• Go to a house of worship … being an active member.
  
  
• Taking discipleship and Bible study classes.
  
  
• Church small groups … hanging out with other believers.
• Don’t go back to the same crowd. I understand this can be hard. If you can’t avoid them, just say no to the temptations. Jesus always gives us the strength to say no and a way out. “No temptation has overtaken you except something common to mankind; and God is faithful, so He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.” – 1 Corinthians 10:13
  It's not that you're better than them or don't care about them. You just don't need to surround yourself with the sins of your past. Keep praying for them and when you are strong in your faith, you will be able to better witness to them. Let them know you still care, but you just don't live that way any longer. Some will see your example and want to follow Jesus as well. You can still witness to them, but just don't hang out with them like you used to.
  
  
• Tell others about Jesus. Share your testimony.
  
  
• Serve others through acts of mercy. We are not saved by good works, but good works are an outflow of being saved. Serve at your church and out in your community either through your church and/or here with Love In Action or a ministry like Love In Action.

These are steps we all need to take. Again, it’s a lifestyle. Once we come to Christ, we need to change our lifestyles. As we experience His love and goodness we will see why and realize it’s more than worth it.