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Jesus Said: "Follow Me"
by Bro. Peter Rahme
 “And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 19 Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” Matthew 4:18-20
Jesus’ first and last words to His disciples were Follow Me (John 21:19-22). There are several scriptures relating to Jesus being the only way to the Father, the only mediator between God and man and the only Savior of the world. When Jesus used this phrase follow Me, it was not only to His immediate disciples whom He called, but to every person who will accept Him as Lord, and will follow Him all the days of their life.
An interesting insight into what Jesus meant is found in The Discovery Bible of New Testament Words. It explains that Jesus had the following ideas in mind when He said the words Follow Me to His disciples:
- Commitment to a long term way of doing something.
- A command to keep on doing an action as one’s general habit or lifestyle.
- Repeat each time this situation arises
Denying Ourselves
“Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
When you accepted Christ as your savior, you exchanged your life for the life of Christ. Your lower level of life was exchanged for His higher level of life. That’s literally what happened when we came to Christ. It is known in Christian circles as the Great Exchange. He knew the position we were in when we came to Him. With His own blood He had already paid the price for every man, woman and child. Making that decision when we realized what we were exchanging was easy. Now we have to continue to walk in this realm where the triune God operates, and to do this we have to deny ourselves. What this means is simply to renounce everything that does not please Christ and follow Him.
Let’s take a look at some excerpts from “The Principles of the Christian Life”, Adam Clarke's Commentary, in order to more clearly understand how to deny ourselves and truly follow Christ. Notice how these ideas line up with Matthew 16:24-25.
- To have a sincere desire to belong to Christ - If any man be willing to be my disciple…
- To renounce self-dependence, and selfish pursuits - Let him deny himself.
- To embrace the condition which God has appointed, and bear the troubles and difficulties he may meet within walking the Christian road - Let him take up his cross.
- To imitate Jesus, and do and suffer all in his spirit- Let him FOLLOW ME.
 I believe Jesus is saying to the Church today, “Imitate my way, my truth and my lifestyle. You will be successful when you love all as I have loved you and when you receive my doctrine and do what I ask. You have to be close to Me however and hear My voice and obey Me. Follow Me." If we follow Him and deny our own earthly desires, we’ll rise to heights we’ve never dreamed of before and experience a supernatural peace consistently.
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand. I and My Father are one." John 10:27-30
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Bro. Peter Rahme
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