The Invitation

When Jesus invited people to follow Him, the invitation was to a fourfold experience. First Jesus invited people to follow Him. When He initially made that invitation, it was literal. He meant go where I go, whether it's into the temple or through Samaria; whether it's into the desert or back to the hometown. Second, Jesus invited people to be with Him. In Mark 3:14, when Jesus appointed the twelve apostles, the first requirement was that they be with Him. Jesus knew that for people to learn to follow Him, they would need to spend much time together with Him. I often think about how much is not recorded in the gospels. How much walking they did, how often they slept under open skies. How many discussions did they have around the fire and over meals? So much of discipleship is really just hanging out together. Jesus also invited people to learn from Him (Matthew 11:29). The disciples learned from Him through experiences together (both natural and supernatural), through His teaching, and through dialogue together. There were a lot of questions involved. Jesus asked the disciples a lot of questions and they also asked their fair share. Finally, Jesus' invitation involved a call to become like Him. Jesus said that a student will become like His teacher (Matthew 10:25). Ultimately, that is the test of discipleship. Am I becoming like Jesus?

I'm launching this blog with that in mind. I'm calling it "PracticAl" because I hope it will contain practical lessons from the life of Jesus. This past year, I memorized the scripture contained in Handel's Messiah - a rich collection focused on the prophesies about Christ and His birth, death, resurrection, and triumphant return. All great thing to meditate on and I'm glad that I have hidden them in my heart. Yet, I'm struck by the fact that there is almost nothing in this great musical piece about the life of the One we follow. This blog will focus on that - on those practical things that we can learn from the life of Jesus and apply to our 21st century life.