February 10, 2010, Mark 1

Key Verse

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”

(Mark 1:17)

Central Truth

Being a Christ Follower may not be easy, but it sure is simple. Jesus gave us a perfect example of how to live life in a way that glorifies God. Begin everyday by following Him.

HOW TO BE A CHRIST FOLLOWER 

As I read this chapter I was reminded of how simple it is to be a Christ Follower. Follow Jesus’ perfect example. That’s it. That’s all we have to do. Jesus came to earth as a man, and He lived as a man. He was baptized, He was tempted, He set apart time to be alone with God, and He took time out to help people who were sick and hurting.

He was baptized as an example to us. He was tempted as a man so He could understand our trials and temptations and help us through anything. He set apart time to be alone with God because prayer is our connection to our Heavenly Father. He healed the sick, blind, and dying because He cares about us.

Just as Jesus did, we have to set apart time to be with God. We have to take time to listen to God without distraction. We have to take time to tell God we love Him, to tell Him our fears, and the desires of our hearts.

I once heard that if you don’t have enough time in the day to spend 15 minutes with God then you need to get your priorities straight. That is so true. We over-schedule ourselves and our children. We get so busy with little league and dance class that we lose sight of what is important. Nothing else matters without God. He is our first priority so He should come first with our time.

God loves people. He made them after all. Take time out to really notice those around you. Try to see what is on the inside. Try to see what God sees when He looks at them. How can you show that person that Jesus cares about them? How can you be the body of Christ and pour love and grace on them?

I began by saying that following Christ is simple. It’s simple, but it’s not always easy. As Christ Followers, we will be tempted to sin, we will let ourselves get too busy to spend time with God, and we won’t always treat people the way we should. But we can start over each day by asking God to forgive us for our sins and then do our best to follow the perfect example of Jesus Christ.