Disciples... How can I be one?

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?  Is a question that has been asked in the book of John by Nathanael?  Can anything good come out of Nazareth; is the question I am asking you?  Can it? 

Well in fact it can as Jesus the Son of God came out of Nazareth.

I think this question is meant on a broader scope as it’s a question that has been asked repeatedly in the Bible.  I think it means can anything good come out of you, not really the place you are from.  

Nazareth is a representation of Jesus’s birth place, a representation of his heritage and lineage, so it says something about who he is as a person.  I think when they say Nazareth you can really insert any town or place into that sentence.  I’ll use me for example, because I have in fact asked this question a few times.  Can anything good come from Pennsylvania?   Meaning, can I, be of any quality because I come from Pennsylvania?  Well of course I can.  Of course Jesus was something of quality.  Jesus is the creation we base all of our Morals and Standards against, so yes, something good, something great, something amazing can come out of Nazareth.  

I really think if we break this question or statement down it’s really is saying can anything good comes out of us? 

Can God really use a person from a town that’s small or rural?  Can or Will God use someone with little education, who might be from a broken home, someone who has had an addiction issue, someone who comes from a background of abuse, or was the abuser, someone who is in prison, or someone that life has beaten up a bit, or a lot.  Can God use them? 

Can he, will he or more importantly will you let him? 

There is a decision that comes when you’re choosing to follow God.  There is a surrender of our lives and will to him and that’s what we focus on.  We focus on what we have to give up and lose instead of what we will gain from following Jesus.    

If Jesus came to you right now and said follow me, leave your life and follow me.   Leave your job, your home, your family, your car all the luxuries you have in life and said follow me, would you do it?   I think that’s a pretty hard decision because we are so focused on self, and what is driving us that we would have to really think, for a period of time, if we wanted to leave everything we know and follow Jesus.

 I think some of us, right now, would say yes, we would drop everything we know and love to follow Jesus, because, it’s Jesus, and if he’s standing right in front of me asking him to follow him how can I say no.   

Here is the next thought… does the fact that you can’t see him change the way you love him?  Does the fact that I can’t see my Grandmother with my physical eyes change the way I love her?  So does the fact that Jesus is not standing in your face saying come follow me change what you are supposed to do?

I don’t think it does and if you search your heart deep enough I believe you will find that I am right, it doesn’t change anything.  We base so much of what we see and believe on eyesight, touch, smell, hearing and taste that we feel we need those things to make decisions in life. 

If I can’t see it, smell it, taste it, hear it or touch it then it can’t be real!   But it can!!! 

You can’t see Jesus with your physical eye, you can’t touch Jesus with your hands, you can’t hear Jesus with your physical ears and you certainly can’t taste Jesus with your mouth, so does that make Jesus any less real?  

We know that Jesus is real or you wouldn’t be reading this now.  We know in the deep part of our hearts that we want to follow Jesus and serve him with all we have but there is a part of us that says but how am I supposed to trust something I can’t see, hear, touch, smell or taste? 

By Faith!  

It’s by Faith that you believe that God created the world.  It’s by Faith that you believe that Jesus hung on the cross to die for your sins.  It’s by faith that you live your life daily.  When you wake up in the morning, most of us aren’t worried that our heart isn’t going to beat, or our lungs aren’t going to fill with air but they do. 

We just believe it, because we have Faith.   Following Jesus is an act of Faith.

Listening for the small still voice of the Holy Spirit is by Faith.  Believing that your every day is going to be taken care of is by Faith.  Believing in Heaven and eternal life is by Faith, so why can’t we have the Faith to follow Jesus?  

 I think there is this general thought process that when you follow Jesus you have to go to Africa to feed hungry children, or build churches and homes for people in the world, some people are called for that.  Some people and God thank you for those people are called to do work like that for the kingdom of God but most of us are called to be light for the world around us.

When I say world I mean maybe a small radius around your home, your work and your church.  Not everyone is called to stand on a stage, sing in the Choir, write books or be a pastor of a church.  Again, thank God for those people who are called and then rise up to the calling, but the everyday disciples, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense at all.  I think we are the real important people in this fight between good and evil.  

You are the ones who drive your kids to school, go to your child’s sporting events, who work every day, who go to church and you are the ones who have the opportunity to show the people around you God’s love, daily. 

We never know who is looking at us every day.  You never know what real struggles people are going through and a kind word or smile or prayer for someone can truly change their lives.   By being part of God’s disciples on the earth you have the ability to impact and change a life just by showing Jesus in small things of everyday life.    This to me is what Jesus meant when he said follow me.

 Yes, there are a few that the calling is different and we need those people to teach us, motivate us, share their testimonies with us to grow our faith and trust in God, but more importantly, I think we need the disciples in everyday life.

We need God’s light to shine brightly in the office place, in the grocery store, in the doctor’s office, at school, and at church.  We need to take a moment and share our love for God with the people around us.

Now, I am not telling you to start becoming street ministers and speaking at people, but being kind to people, showing them forgiveness when they have hurt you or more importantly asking for forgiveness and saying I am sorry when you have hurt them.  All these things set you apart from the world we are living in.  

We are in such a fast paced society that even smiling at someone isn’t normal anymore.  Bring that back.  Bring back the smile.  Look someone in the eyes today and smile at them.  Hold the door open for someone today and when someone holds the door open for you, say thank you.   It is all these small things that will start to affect the world around you and will make people start to wonder why you are different.

When you see someone hurting go to them and ask them if they are OK, or if there is anything you can do to help.  Maybe they would afford you the opportunity to pray for them.   I think the small things in life are the most important things in life.  I think they are the things that get overlooked so easily and that is part of what we are missing in this world.

 If it’s not a big gesture or a moment for someone to shine brighter than the person beside them, we don’t do it, or, and this saddens me, we just don’t care anymore. 

We have become a selfish society, myself included, but we can all take ownership of what we are contributing to the world and what we are taking from the world.  Start contributing more than what you are taking.  It will make you feel good knowing that you have done something to brighten someone else’s day, and more importantly, it will make that person feel good and see God’s love through you. 

You see my fellow God disciples it’s not a hard thing to follow Jesus.  It’s not an Oh, no, I have to be like this, and have rules and regulations for my life.  No, in fact it’s a blessing to follow Jesus.  It’s a gift we give to ourselves to follow Jesus.   Jesus isn’t something that our five senses can physically respond to but the senses that really matter, the ones that God has deposited into us, they will all respond when you choose to follow Jesus!!