Believing and Following

I have believed in Christ for about five years but I have only followed him a little over a year. You see there is such a huge difference in believing and following and I have not realized it until now. A believer is someone who thinks something is real. You believe that gravity is holding everything down to the earth; you believe that two plus two equals four; you believe that Christ came from heaven to die on the cross to save you from your sins. Although Jesus calls us to do so much more than to believe in him, he calls us to FOLLOW him. Sure John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life," but does not tell us how to live our lives. I am firm believer in John 3:16 and I believe that if you have true faith in Christ that you will be saved but that is not enough for me. I personally cannot sit back and do nothing while Christ does everything.

"18As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed him." (Matt 4:18-20)

I want to be a fisher of men; I want to be like Christ; I want to follow Jesus. There are two things you need to do to become more like Christ.

One you need to follow him. Image you are Peter, minding your own business and then this guy comes to you and says follow me. You do not know much about him other than he is a rabbi but you follow him anyway. Why? Because he is a rabbi! He is someone who can teach you so much about God. Simply, following a rabbi in this time period was like going to an intense bible study. You would follow your rabbi around and make note of his every move, how he handled arguments about scriptures, how he preached and even how he read the scriptures. Imagine following Christ like this; imagine how much you could learn from him.

Two you need to practice what Christ teaches you. I remember when I was a child I wanted nothing more to be like Jarmiour Jagr. So I watched each Penguin game with my hockey stick and ever time Jagr touched the puck I would jump up and imitate his every move. To be like Christ we have to imitate him too. Obviously we cannot be one hundred percent like him, but we can try. When you find yourself applying his teachings in your life it will become easier to be like him.

So I am done with believing in Christ, it is not enough for me, I am following him.