Then He said to them, “Follow me and I’ll make you fishers of men. Matt 4:19KJV
God’s gracious invitation came to men of low repute and status in the society, offered them an everlasting wisdom of God in person of Jesus Christ transforming them into becoming sons in His Kingdom in the order of the Master, our Lord Jesus Christ. Basically every one of us started out in identical conditions; a condition that puts us all on a death roll-eternal damnation. For we have all sinned and have fallen short the God of glory. But out of His sheer love, He reached out to us in our derogatory and demeaning state an eternal invitation to His resurrected life asking us to simply follow while He transforms us into an unbelievable replica of Him, a promise God himself has offered humanity when He first created them male and female for it was written “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”. God being true to His word has made this fulfillment of His promise possible not by our own effort of keeping His commandment but by His death on the cross and His priceless invitation to follow Him. He therefore simply asks us to follow Him and that in so doing; we will have the honor and the privilege to abide in Him and also Him in us so that ultimately the world around us can hardly differentiate us from Him. It is in this following that we can learn of His person and gain access to His words that are Spirits and life so that whoever that keeps His commandments and do them can be liken to the wise man who built his house on the solid rock and when the wind blows, it remains unshaken. In our contemporary world today, the word “Christian” is an added nomenclature to so many names placing a tag on people to differentiate themselves from other religious sect but interestingly, it was not so from the beginning. Jesus our Lord and Master invited men to follow Him so that they can become fishers of men-a disciple fishing for other disciples. Our dedication and commitment to the Saviour and His way of life transforms us into becoming one like Him-Christ like beings (Christians). For it was written, that the disciples were first called Christian in Antioch because in their act; the world around them saw clearly a replica of the Saviour-Jesus Christ. It therefore suggests to us that a Christian is a greater degree of a disciple; for it is only a dedicated and committed disciple that will attain the full stature of becoming like Jesus Christ and thus be called a Christian. So when next you’re called a Christian, check if they saw Christ in your actions as a follower of Jesus or the word “Christian” is just another nomenclature added to your name.
Are you dangerously deceived?
And Jesus said answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceives you. For many shall come in my name, saying I am Christ and shall deceive many. Matt 24:4-5 KJV.
It has been written that many will be deceived and if were possible even the elect will be deceived too. Deception is dangerous and destructive for the scripture spoke about the last days, that many people will develop itching hears, wanting to hear what pleases them. Many will work miracles and do big projects in His name but He will tell them to depart from Him for they are workers of lawlessness and iniquity. Are you ignorant of the deception around you? Have you developed itching ears rejecting the words of the Master? They will come as wolves in sheep clothing appearing as agent of light but they are not of the Master-Jesus Christ. Prophet Isaiah puts it right; “whose eyes are open but don’t see a thing, whose ears are open but don’t understand a word”. The reality of the world we live in permits people to always go to church having a form of Godliness but deny His power. We must be careful not to get caught up in the deception that looms around us as we may ignorantly be in engagement of service to God but absolutely against His will. For you saying Lord, Lord, isn’t going to get you anywhere with the Master. What is required is serious obedience-doing the will of the Father. The devil tries to thrive on the ignorance of the believers and the only way to overcome our adversary to live on every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Father and not bread alone. For when vicious wolves shows up to twist the words of the Master so as to seduce disciples into following them instead of Jesus, the only way to combat the devices of the enemy is not to be ignorant of them. Even the Pharisees and the chief priests that read so much about the laws of Moses had no idea they were following to the letter the scripts written about the Master-Jesus Christ yet they killed Him and are even ready to persecute His church after His death. Jesus said if you love me, you’ll keep my commands and this means that the only way to demonstrate your love for Christ is to keep His word by obedience. Your ignorance of the word of God as a believer is what the devil uses to keep you away from the reality of God’s plan and purpose. If you’ll choose to abide in Him, Jesus and the Father will come and make their dwelling in you.
Ajayi Johnson
ajayijohnson68@yahoo.com