Following Him

 “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me."
Matthew 16.24


Someone asked me the other day about salvation and following Jesus.  She wanted to know if salvation was free or did we have to do something more?  The truth is God forgives us by grace.  It is not something to be earned.  But salvation and following Jesus go together,  They are two sides of the same coin.  Forgiveness is free.  We are saved by grace.  But Jesus' desire is for us then to follow Him and that can be costly.
Being a Christ Follower means that we follow Him by deny ourselves  and taking up our cross.  That means that His priorities become our priorities.  It means that we our willing to sacrifice ourselves and we surrender ourselves to His will.
Are you ready to give Him complete control of your life?  If so you are experiencing the life of the disciple.  Life is at its best when we are living for Jesus.

Mark of a Christ Follower: Devotion to learning the Word

They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching 

Acts 2:42 (NASB) 

Another mark of a Christ follower is someone who is devoted to what the Apostles were teaching.  What does that exactly mean and how do we do that in our lives?  After all James, Peter and John (etc.) are no longer walking with us, so how does that work.

1. Devoted.  What does it mean to be devoted?  It means it becomes a priority.  As a Christ follower we must be devoted to learning from the Word.
2. Submit.  We must submit to the teaching of your church leaders, mainly your pastor.  Remember that no one is infallible, except for Jesus.  So submit to the teaching you are hearing at church but also search the Scriptures to verify what you are hearing is correct.
3. Discipleship.  What was it that the Apostles were teaching.  We would assume that they were teaching what Jesus taught them:  how to be a follower of Christ, or how to be a Disciple.