At least six or seven times Jesus summarizes the radical, intense, intentional call to be His disciple in two words: Follow Me.

The Command to Follow Christ

He told Peter to follow Him and become a fisher of men… pointing others to the love of Christ. And whether to a large crowd or His small group of disciples, Jesus warned His audience about the costs of truly following Him.

The Meaning of Follow Me

Following someone means learning from them, copying their way of life, and embracing their ultimate objectives. In any leader to follower relationship, the follower usually develops the characteristics, goals, and passions of their leader.

The Example of Following Christ

Paul tells the church at Corinth to follow him as he follows Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). In doing so, Paul calls the Corinthians to complete abandonment to Jesus Christ. Responding to his call would take a deep conviction that every longing can only be fulfilled by following Christ … no matter the results.

The Love of Christ

Why would we do that today? Because—as Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5—Christ’s love compels us.

Jesus’ call to follow extends to us, and if we accept the risks and respond to His call we must be compelled by His great love for us. We must be confident that Christ’s love is perfect and only operates for our highest good… even if the highest good comes in life or death, success or failure, fame or anonymity.

The Cost

We cannot expect a life of following Jesus to always end in success, be embraced by the people around us, or seem logical.

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.” – 2 Corinthians 8:9

There’s nothing logical about Jesus leaving the riches of glory, but because of His willingness to follow God’s agenda, we receive riches that are unfathomable to the natural mind.

The Choice to Follow Me

Christ’s example doesn’t make sense, but following Him is well worth any sacrifice.

Will you learn from Christ, copy His way of life, and embrace His objectives?