Patti Burris

Matthew 4:19

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”

Matthew 8:22

But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Matthew 9:9

As Jesus went on 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.

Matthew 10:38

Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Matthew 19:21

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

Luke 14:27

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

John 1:43

The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.”

I think Jesus makes it obvious that He wants us to follow Him. But what does it mean to follow Jesus? Does it mean, going to church on Sundays, praying occasionally and being a generally good person? Many people believe that this is exactly what following Jesus is all about. Sometimes, I wish it were that easy. There are two reasons that people find it hard to follow Jesus: they don’t really understand what following Jesus requires or they don’t really want to make the sacrifice that being a true disciple requires. Jesus says in Luke 14:27 that if we do not carry our cross and follow Him then we CANNOT be His disciple. I WANT to be a disciple! I don’t want to live without Jesus. How then do we follow Him? Below I give 4 ways to follow Jesus that have helped me in my journey of following Him:

1. Prayer: Prayer is a two way conversation with God. When we pray, we share the good and the bad in our lives with Him. We also, open our hearts to listen to what God has to say. When we keep our hearts open and keep the conversation going, we allow Jesus to abide in us, and when that happens we want nothing more than to follow Him all the days of our lives.
2. Digging into God’s word: When we dig into the Bible, we can feel the Holy Spirit breathing life into our lives. We learn about Jesus, but most importantly, we learn how to follow Jesus. We learn what it means to be a Christian. When we read the Bible, something magical happens. It transforms our lives. The words sink into our hearts and our souls and we become disciples of Jesus.
3. Sacrifice: To follow Jesus, scripture says that we must deny ourselves. That means that we must put the will of God before our own. Scripture says that we are not to be of the world. 1 John 2:15 says not to love anything in the world. We get so caught up in worldly things that we forget Jesus. Jesus said that we must sell our possessions and give to the poor. I believe that Jesus is asking us to live simple lives, so that we will be able to give to those in need. I also, believe that Jesus wants us to live simply so we remember that He is the most important thing. We may be asked to leave our families, our homes, our livelihoods in order to follow Jesus. Jesus, Himself had no home. What is Jesus asking you to sacrifice in order to follow Him?
4. Obedience: In order to follow Jesus, we must obey Him, no matter the cost. Obedience is hard. We want to live one way, but Jesus is calling us to live a completely different way. If we want to follow Jesus, we MUST obey what He says. There are times when Jesus may call us into a lifestyle that we would never think of to fulfill His purpose. Be willing to obey.

In my own life, Jesus has called me to follow Him in this season of my life as a single woman. I knew a few years after my divorce in 2000 that I was meant to be single. I have had some well intentioned shoves to meet someone, but I am meant to be single. I felt confirmation in that calling about 3 months ago when I read that according to the Catholic Church, being single can be a vocation. YES!!! I knew it! Not everyone is meant to be married. There are those of us who feel called to follow Jesus as single men and women. Along with prayer and studying the Bible, I follow Jesus through celibacy, living a simple life, and writing this blog. As a Providence Associate I am called to living a life of Love, Mercy, and Justice in my sphere of influence. My relationship with Jesus is my EVERYTHING! There is nothing more important than Jesus. There can’t be if we choose to be His followers.

CHALLENGE: Are you a follower of Jesus? How do you know? In what ways are you an example of a disciple of Jesus? I am challenging you to take a long hard look at your christian walk and write down the ways that you are following Jesus. Do you need to make any changes? Do you need to become less worldly? Do you need to simplify your life? Do you need to pray more? Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in becoming a disciple of Jesus that is willing to take up his/her cross and will immediately be willing to sacrifice everything when Jesus says, “Follow Me.” 

Jesus is calling you NOW to follow Him. He wants your heart. He wants your sacrifice. He wants your obedience. Are you willing to walk away from the world in order to follow Him today?