The letters that are found in the New Testament are filled with truth about what God has done for us through Jesus, and instructions on how God now wants His followers to live. It’s not complicated. God asks us to love Him and to love others. It’s the same thing He’s been asking of us since the beginning of this world.
And if we’re really doing that – loving God and loving others – we’ll be making disciples. From the very beginning, that was God’s plan – to bring people into an intimate loving relationship with Him and with each other. And that was also Jesus’ plan. We see it in His life and in the instructions He gave to His disciples. And even to this day, almost 2,000 years later, His followers are to go and make disciples. This storyboard is where we come into the story of God. This era of history isn’t finished yet. It continues on.
Those who truly love God and others will follow Jesus’ instructions and go. We will intentionally be a tangible example of Christ among the lost people around us – in our homes, communities, work places, schools, and recreational pursuits. We will live life together with people who need to know what God has done for them through Jesus. Like the early disciples lived missional lives, we are to do the same.
Disciples are to follow the teachings of Jesus and show His love and grace to the world. That’s why Jesus instructed His disciples to teach those who come to Christ to do all that Jesus commanded. It’s not enough that we know what Jesus taught. What matters most is that we do what Jesus taught. The truth we say we believe must transform our lives. That’s why God led James, Peter, Paul, John, and Jude to write the words found in the twenty-two New Testament letters. And what is it that Jesus commands us to do? It’s the same thing that God has asked of man since the beginning of time as we know it. He wants us to love Him and to love others. That’s it.
Some questions for you to think about:
- Are you walking worthy so you will be an example of Jesus to those around you?
- Are you intentionally building friendships and living life with the lost people around you?
- Are you prepared to share the story of God’s relentless pursuit of a relationship with us when the opportunity comes along?
- Are you helping people who are far from God come into a relationship with God and then helping them learn to become a fully-devoted follower of Christ?
Matthew 28:19-20
“Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”