September 23, 2025 • 19 mins
What does it truly mean to follow Jesus? In a world where Christianity is often reduced to Sunday attendance and general morality, we need to rediscover the radical nature of discipleship that Jesus actually calls us to.
The call to follow Jesus is fundamentally personal. When Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee calling his first disciples, he wasn't inviting them to join a religion or adopt a philosophy—he was calling them to himself. Simon, Andrew, James, and John didn't hesitate; they immediately left their nets, boats, and livelihoods to follow him. This teaches us a profound truth: for everything we say yes to, we must say no to something else. Saying yes to Jesus means leaving our old life behind.
Jesus never sugarcoated the cost of discipleship. He explicitly told his followers to deny themselves, take up their cross daily, and follow him. Self-denial means surrendering control and saying no to our own desires when they conflict with Christ's calling. Taking up our cross involves daily dying to self—putting to death our selfish ambitions. Yet here's the beautiful paradox: through this death comes true life. As Jesus said, "Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." While the world promises freedom but delivers slavery, Jesus demands surrender but gives abundant life.
The question we must each answer is this: Are we followers of Jesus or merely fans? Have we responded to his personal call? Are we willing to count the cost? What comfort or security are we unwilling to surrender? Take a moment to identify one act of obedience you've delayed, and commit to taking that step this week. Remember, the Christ who calls you is the Christ who walks with you—"Christ in you, the hope of glory."
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi and welcome back to the Pleasing God podcast, a
show focused on helpingChristians to think biblically,
engage practically and livefaithfully for the glory of God.
I'm your host, jonathan Soule,and on the last episode we
introduced season four.
Caitlin and I sat down, had agreat conversation reflecting on
life events, things that havehappened and the path ahead,
(00:35):
focusing on faithfulness in themidst of hard things, and it was
a great show and it was a goodconversation to be able to have.
I want to kind of follow upwith that and talk about
discipleship, really the call ofdiscipleship, what it means to
follow Jesus.
This is so important and Ithink there can be
(00:59):
misunderstandings.
Sometimes people can be more offans than followers.
And what does the Bible sayabout discipleship?
What does the Bible show usabout what it means to be a true
follower of Jesus?
When Jesus calls someone, whenJesus says, follow me, he's
(01:24):
never asking for part-timecommitment.
He's not talking about some ofyour life given to Jesus.
It's not go to church on Sundayand then try to live good the
rest of the week.
That's not what it means tofollow Jesus.
Following Jesus is much morethan church and morality.
It's truly seeing him,understanding him, knowing him
(01:51):
in his word and beingtransformed by him.
And so I want to look throughkind of three aspects of the
call to discipleship, what itlooks like to be a true follower
of Jesus, all rooted in thescriptures and all helpful for
us to think biblically aboutthis, to engage practically and
(02:13):
ultimately the end to befaithful, to live faithfully for
the glory of God.
And the first thing I want us toconsider about discipleship is
that the call is personal.
At the beginning of Jesus'sministry, after his baptism, he
calls his first disciples.
(02:34):
In Mark 1, verse 16, it readspassing alongside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting
a net into the sea, for theywere fishermen.
And Jesus said to them followme and I will make you become
fishers of men.
And immediately they left theirnets and followed him.
(02:56):
And going on a little farther,he saw James, the son of Zebedee
, and John, his brother, whowere in their boat mending the
nets.
And immediately he called tothem and they left their father,
zebedee, in the boat with thehired servants and followed him.
This passage says a lot aboutthe call to discipleship and I
(03:19):
want us to understandfoundationally the call is
personal.
Jesus calls individuals tofollow him.
He calls them by name, hesummons them and calls them to
himself.
It's important to note Jesusdoesn't call us to an idea, call
(03:41):
us to a religion, call us to aritual, call us to a set of
rules.
He calls us to himselfpersonally.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christis to follow Jesus.
It sounds simple because it is,and notice the response that
(04:04):
all of these people gave.
They didn't say let mecontemplate that that's a good
proposition, jesus, let me thinkabout it.
Let me just can I have myfishing business and follow you?
Jesus' call is personal andtheir response is immediate.
They went and left what theyhad, what they knew, they
(04:24):
stepped away from their comfortzone and they followed him.
An important principle that Iseek to live by and I share with
people in my congregation,people that I counsel in my own
life, is for everything that yousay yes to, you have to say no
to something else, and so wewant to think about what are we
(04:45):
saying yes to and what are wesaying no to.
And in this case, for Simon andAndrew, james and John, saying
yes to Jesus meant they wereleaving their old life behind.
This is so important tounderstand.
To follow Jesus means to stopfollowing any and all other
(05:08):
things.
The call to follow Jesus isindividual, it is immediate and
it is sacrificial Again, veryimportant to understand.
And so ask yourself, as you'rethinking about this, as you're
hearing this have I personallyresponded to Jesus's call or am
I just kind of coasting?
(05:28):
Am I kind of half in, half out,or am I all in?
Am I following Jesus today?
Am I trusting in Jesus?
Is my life being shaped andmolded around Jesus and his
teaching?
Do the things that matter in mylife?
Are those the things thatmatter to Christ?
Are those the things thatmatter to Jesus?
Am I following him faithfully,sincerely?
(05:52):
Is that my desire?
All great questions to ask andalso important to recognize.
In the individual call it ispersonal, because Jesus calls
persons.
So if you're a young person,ask the question are you
following Jesus or are youfollowing your parents' faith?
(06:16):
Following your parents' faithis not discipleship, that's
following someone else, but itmust be personal, it must be
sincere, it must be our faith,our following of Jesus.
Saying is true, god has nograndchildren, meaning that we
don't vicariously live throughsomeone else's faith, but we are
(06:37):
personal, direct followers ofJesus as disciples.
So he calls fathers and hecalls mothers and he calls
children and he callsgrandparents.
He calls all of them topersonally follow him.
Second thing concerning the callto discipleship is that it's
costly.
I'm reminded of Jesus's wordsin Luke 9, verse 23.
(06:59):
And he said to all if anyonewould come after me, let him
deny himself, take up his crossdaily and follow me, for whoever
would save his life will loseit, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will save it.
For what does it profit a manif he gains the whole world and
(07:22):
loses or forfeits himself?
Sobering words here and areminder Jesus doesn't sugarcoat
discipleship.
Jesus tells it how it is.
I think sometimes, in an effortto want to get people to follow
(07:42):
Jesus, to enter your church, orjust if you're driven by numbers
, the tendency is to kind ofround the edges and kind of
soften it, break the edges sothat the message seems a little
more palatable.
Sure, that'll help you gain alarge following, but it also
(08:03):
strays you away from the Bible.
Jesus is very clear what itcosts to be his follower and he
tells them up front.
There's no deceit, there's notrickery, there's no underhanded
or tampering with God's word.
But here is the open statementof the truth the call is costly.
(08:24):
Jesus says three things here.
If anyone would come after me,first, let him deny himself.
This means to say no to thedesires of self.
This means to not allow self torule and not to follow one's
(08:47):
own passions and desires, but toset them aside.
So it is the self-denial, it isthe control over self instead
of being controlled by self.
And so there's this denial.
I don't know the man.
I am willing to put all of mylife on the back to follow Jesus
(09:09):
.
So the first is a life ofself-denial.
And the second thing he says isto take up his cross daily.
Well, in the first century,everyone who heard this knew
exactly what Jesus meant.
The cross was an instrument ofcruelty and death.
Everyone feared the cross.
He's speaking of crucifixion,the cruel torture and execution
(09:32):
by the Romans, the cruel tortureand execution by the Romans.
It was so cruel and torturousthat they would not even crucify
their own people.
And Jesus says this is what youmust do you must strap the
instrument of death to your back, to take it up daily.
So there's a daily denial andthere's a daily dying.
(09:55):
Wow, some of you might belistening now and think who in
their right mind would want todo this?
Somebody that knows what is atstake?
And so deny self, die to self.
And in doing that, here's thethird thing and follow me.
So it's saying no to self, it'ssaying no to everything about
(10:19):
your own self and saying yes toJesus.
It's saying I will weigh thiscost and I will go and I will
follow Jesus.
That means I will emulate him,I will seek to learn from him, I
will sit at his feet, I willread his word and I will be
transformed into his likeness.
And that's the greatest joy andpursuit really of the Christian
(10:41):
life is to grow more and morelike Jesus.
I mean to be a Christian.
That term was used in one ofthe first churches in Antioch by
outsiders who were looking atall these people and they kept
talking about Christ, and so theoutsiders started calling these
(11:02):
people little Christs.
They're the Christ people towhich the term Christian came.
To be a Christian is to be likea little Christ in the way in
which we reflect Jesus in ourlives, to be conformed to his
image, to become more and morelike him Christ-likeness and
(11:26):
less and less like ourselves.
That's denial, that's death,that's following Jesus.
And he tells us why this is soimportant, why this hard message
actually softens hearts.
Because he says for whoeverwould save his life will lose it
.
So a life that does not denyself and does not take up the
(11:49):
cross is a one that is going toforfeit his life because they're
seeking to save it.
But whoever loses his life formy sake will save it.
Oh friends, this is the paradoxof Christianity To save your
life, you must be willing tolose it.
And we see it fully displayedin Christ.
(12:12):
Fully displayed in Christ.
For us to be saved, christ hadto give up his life, to lay down
his life for the salvation ofhis people.
I'm reminded of the famous quoteby the martyr Jim Elliott, a
missionary, who said he is nofool who gives up that which he
(12:35):
cannot keep in order to gainwhat he cannot lose.
And we think about it.
We spend our whole ourexistence trying to stay alive,
trying to preserve our own lives.
All for what?
70 years, 80 years, 90 years,70 years, 80 years, 90 years?
(12:56):
But when we think in terms ofeternity, peter says what is
your life but a vapor, here oneday and gone tomorrow?
Maybe we should focus more ongiving our lives up for Jesus
instead of trying just topreserve our lives for our
comfort.
Another martyr, dietrichBonhoeffer, killed by the Nazis
(13:18):
during World War II, said quotewhen Christ calls a man, he bids
him to come and die.
End quote.
So let me ask you what comfortsof this life are you willing to
lay down for Christ?
Whatever we have, our prizes,our possessions, the things that
(13:39):
we hold dear, and those thingsare fine to have, they're not
bad, they're neutral.
It's how we treat them, how wethink about them, that matters.
Do we hold the things in ourlife loosely and do we lay hold
of Christ tightly?
That's what matters.
And Jesus asked thethought-provoking question for
(14:02):
what does it profit a man if hegains the whole world and loses
or forfeits himself?
Again, he's thinking ofeternity.
You can have it all, he'ssaying, in this life, but at
what cost?
He's saying the forfeit of yoursoul.
It's not worth it.
And this is why this hardmessage softened hearts and many
(14:26):
were willing, and havethroughout the centuries, even
to this very day, to not denythemselves, to take up their
cross to follow Jesus, and someto the point of death.
And in death they gained life,everlasting heaven, eternity.
And they hear the blessed wordsthat all believers want to hear
(14:48):
and long for Well done, goodand faithful servant.
So the call to discipleship.
So the call to discipleship,it's personal and it's costly,
but it's life-giving.
Jesus says in John, chapter 10,verse 10, the thief comes only
to steal, kill and destroy.
(15:10):
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly, and that
they that he's talking aboutare his followers.
The Bible uses the metaphor ofsheep and Jesus being the
shepherd, the good shepherd ofhis sheep, and he says I came to
bring life, abundant life.
(15:30):
And here it is again, anotherparadox it's sacrifice that
leads to abundant life.
Jesus provides the abundantlife through giving up his life.
It's so interesting that thepathway to contentment is not
through the accumulation of manythings, but the willingness to
(15:52):
give up all things.
The pathway to joy is not doeverything you can to be happy,
but to rest in Christ.
The pathway to fulfillment andunderstanding purpose and
meaning in this life is to findand understand our created
purpose in knowing God and beingunited to him through his son,
(16:13):
jesus Christ, him through hisson, jesus Christ.
And once all these things arein place, everything starts to
make sense, as if we were meantfor this.
Almost every great catechismbegins with the question what is
the chief end of man, or whatis the purpose for which man
exists?
The world will tell youhappiness, contentment,
(16:36):
wholeness, fullness,satisfaction.
But the Word of God says man'schief end purpose for being is
to glorify God and to enjoy Himforever.
It signifies a relationshipwith God and that we get to
enjoy Him and in doing so, allthe things that the world longs
(16:56):
for is fulfilled in knowing Godthrough Christ.
This world promises freedom,but it only delivers slavery.
Jesus demands surrender andgives life, for if the Son has
set you free, you are free.
Indeed, it is life-giving.
Think about your own life andyour own journey, times in which
(17:17):
you submitted yourself inobedience to Christ, and how
that brought you joy, howobedience and submission brought
forth freedom in your life.
It's a wonderful thing.
To be a follower of Jesus, is abeautiful thing, it's a good
thing, it's a noble thing.
So ask yourself am I followingJesus as a true disciple or just
(17:42):
a fan?
Maybe you attend church, maybeyou're involved in religious
activity, maybe you identify asspiritual.
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Have you responded to hispersonal call to follow him.
Have you recognized that thiscall is costly?
Are you willing to denyyourself, to die to yourself and
(18:04):
to follow Jesus?
Do you know and have youexperienced that this call is
life-giving, that throughobedience we experience freedom?
Are these increasing realitiesin your life?
So let me challenge you Identifyone act of obedience that
you've delayed and take it thisweek.
(18:25):
Maybe there's something thatyou've been holding on to and
you haven't given that to theLord, whatever that thing might
be, and you're delaying in that.
Let me just challenge you Givethat to the Lord, give that up
that you would be a faithfulfollower, continuing on with
Christ.
So just to recap, discipleshipis personal, discipleship is
(18:48):
costly and it is life-giving.
I pray you're challenged, maybeconvicted, but encouraged to go
on, to continue this journey.
Maybe you're weary, maybe thebattle seems to be just
overwhelming you.
You are not alone.
The Christ that calls you isthe Christ that walks with you
(19:10):
Because, as the Apostle Paultells us, it is Christ in us,
the hope of glory, and I praythat that truth sustains you,
motivates you, strengthens youas you seek to be faithful in
following Jesus.
I want to thank you forlistening to the Pleasing God
podcast.
(19:30):
If you have any questions, Iwould love to hear from you.
You could reach out atquestions at
pleasinggodpodcastorg.
And remember 1 Thessalonians4.3,.
This is the will of God, yoursanctification.
Hi and welcome back to the Pleasing God podcast, a
show focused on helpingChristians to think biblically,
engage practically and livefaithfully for the glory of God.
I'm your host, jonathan Soule,and on the last episode we
introduced season four.
Caitlin and I sat down, had agreat conversation reflecting on
life events, things that havehappened and the path ahead,
(00:35):
focusing on faithfulness in themidst of hard things, and it was
a great show and it was a goodconversation to be able to have.
I want to kind of follow upwith that and talk about
discipleship, really the call ofdiscipleship, what it means to
follow Jesus.
This is so important and Ithink there can be
(00:59):
misunderstandings.
Sometimes people can be more offans than followers.
And what does the Bible sayabout discipleship?
What does the Bible show usabout what it means to be a true
follower of Jesus?
When Jesus calls someone, whenJesus says, follow me, he's
(01:24):
never asking for part-timecommitment.
He's not talking about some ofyour life given to Jesus.
It's not go to church on Sundayand then try to live good the
rest of the week.
That's not what it means tofollow Jesus.
Following Jesus is much morethan church and morality.
It's truly seeing him,understanding him, knowing him
(01:51):
in his word and beingtransformed by him.
And so I want to look throughkind of three aspects of the
call to discipleship, what itlooks like to be a true follower
of Jesus, all rooted in thescriptures and all helpful for
us to think biblically aboutthis, to engage practically and
(02:13):
ultimately the end to befaithful, to live faithfully for
the glory of God.
And the first thing I want us toconsider about discipleship is
that the call is personal.
At the beginning of Jesus'sministry, after his baptism, he
calls his first disciples.
(02:34):
In Mark 1, verse 16, it readspassing alongside the Sea of
Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting
a net into the sea, for theywere fishermen.
And Jesus said to them followme and I will make you become
fishers of men.
And immediately they left theirnets and followed him.
(02:56):
And going on a little farther,he saw James, the son of Zebedee
, and John, his brother, whowere in their boat mending the
nets.
And immediately he called tothem and they left their father,
zebedee, in the boat with thehired servants and followed him.
This passage says a lot aboutthe call to discipleship and I
(03:19):
want us to understandfoundationally the call is
personal.
Jesus calls individuals tofollow him.
He calls them by name, hesummons them and calls them to
himself.
It's important to note Jesusdoesn't call us to an idea, call
(03:41):
us to a religion, call us to aritual, call us to a set of
rules.
He calls us to himselfpersonally.
To be a disciple of Jesus Christis to follow Jesus.
It sounds simple because it is,and notice the response that
(04:04):
all of these people gave.
They didn't say let mecontemplate that that's a good
proposition, jesus, let me thinkabout it.
Let me just can I have myfishing business and follow you?
Jesus' call is personal andtheir response is immediate.
They went and left what theyhad, what they knew, they
(04:24):
stepped away from their comfortzone and they followed him.
An important principle that Iseek to live by and I share with
people in my congregation,people that I counsel in my own
life, is for everything that yousay yes to, you have to say no
to something else, and so wewant to think about what are we
(04:45):
saying yes to and what are wesaying no to.
And in this case, for Simon andAndrew, james and John, saying
yes to Jesus meant they wereleaving their old life behind.
This is so important tounderstand.
To follow Jesus means to stopfollowing any and all other
(05:08):
things.
The call to follow Jesus isindividual, it is immediate and
it is sacrificial Again, veryimportant to understand.
And so ask yourself, as you'rethinking about this, as you're
hearing this have I personallyresponded to Jesus's call or am
I just kind of coasting?
(05:28):
Am I kind of half in, half out,or am I all in?
Am I following Jesus today?
Am I trusting in Jesus?
Is my life being shaped andmolded around Jesus and his
teaching?
Do the things that matter in mylife?
Are those the things thatmatter to Christ?
Are those the things thatmatter to Jesus?
Am I following him faithfully,sincerely?
(05:52):
Is that my desire?
All great questions to ask andalso important to recognize.
In the individual call it ispersonal, because Jesus calls
persons.
So if you're a young person,ask the question are you
following Jesus or are youfollowing your parents' faith?
(06:16):
Following your parents' faithis not discipleship, that's
following someone else, but itmust be personal, it must be
sincere, it must be our faith,our following of Jesus.
Saying is true, god has nograndchildren, meaning that we
don't vicariously live throughsomeone else's faith, but we are
(06:37):
personal, direct followers ofJesus as disciples.
So he calls fathers and hecalls mothers and he calls
children and he callsgrandparents.
He calls all of them topersonally follow him.
Second thing concerning the callto discipleship is that it's
costly.
I'm reminded of Jesus's wordsin Luke 9, verse 23.
(06:59):
And he said to all if anyonewould come after me, let him
deny himself, take up his crossdaily and follow me, for whoever
would save his life will loseit, but whoever loses his life
for my sake will save it.
For what does it profit a manif he gains the whole world and
(07:22):
loses or forfeits himself?
Sobering words here and areminder Jesus doesn't sugarcoat
discipleship.
Jesus tells it how it is.
I think sometimes, in an effortto want to get people to follow
(07:42):
Jesus, to enter your church, orjust if you're driven by numbers
, the tendency is to kind ofround the edges and kind of
soften it, break the edges sothat the message seems a little
more palatable.
Sure, that'll help you gain alarge following, but it also
(08:03):
strays you away from the Bible.
Jesus is very clear what itcosts to be his follower and he
tells them up front.
There's no deceit, there's notrickery, there's no underhanded
or tampering with God's word.
But here is the open statementof the truth the call is costly.
(08:24):
Jesus says three things here.
If anyone would come after me,first, let him deny himself.
This means to say no to thedesires of self.
This means to not allow self torule and not to follow one's
(08:47):
own passions and desires, but toset them aside.
So it is the self-denial, it isthe control over self instead
of being controlled by self.
And so there's this denial.
I don't know the man.
I am willing to put all of mylife on the back to follow Jesus
(09:09):
.
So the first is a life ofself-denial.
And the second thing he says isto take up his cross daily.
Well, in the first century,everyone who heard this knew
exactly what Jesus meant.
The cross was an instrument ofcruelty and death.
Everyone feared the cross.
He's speaking of crucifixion,the cruel torture and execution
(09:32):
by the Romans, the cruel tortureand execution by the Romans.
It was so cruel and torturousthat they would not even crucify
their own people.
And Jesus says this is what youmust do you must strap the
instrument of death to your back, to take it up daily.
So there's a daily denial andthere's a daily dying.
(09:55):
Wow, some of you might belistening now and think who in
their right mind would want todo this?
Somebody that knows what is atstake?
And so deny self, die to self.
And in doing that, here's thethird thing and follow me.
So it's saying no to self, it'ssaying no to everything about
(10:19):
your own self and saying yes toJesus.
It's saying I will weigh thiscost and I will go and I will
follow Jesus.
That means I will emulate him,I will seek to learn from him, I
will sit at his feet, I willread his word and I will be
transformed into his likeness.
And that's the greatest joy andpursuit really of the Christian
(10:41):
life is to grow more and morelike Jesus.
I mean to be a Christian.
That term was used in one ofthe first churches in Antioch by
outsiders who were looking atall these people and they kept
talking about Christ, and so theoutsiders started calling these
(11:02):
people little Christs.
They're the Christ people towhich the term Christian came.
To be a Christian is to be likea little Christ in the way in
which we reflect Jesus in ourlives, to be conformed to his
image, to become more and morelike him Christ-likeness and
(11:26):
less and less like ourselves.
That's denial, that's death,that's following Jesus.
And he tells us why this is soimportant, why this hard message
actually softens hearts.
Because he says for whoeverwould save his life will lose it
.
So a life that does not denyself and does not take up the
(11:49):
cross is a one that is going toforfeit his life because they're
seeking to save it.
But whoever loses his life formy sake will save it.
Oh friends, this is the paradoxof Christianity To save your
life, you must be willing tolose it.
And we see it fully displayedin Christ.
(12:12):
Fully displayed in Christ.
For us to be saved, christ hadto give up his life, to lay down
his life for the salvation ofhis people.
I'm reminded of the famous quoteby the martyr Jim Elliott, a
missionary, who said he is nofool who gives up that which he
(12:35):
cannot keep in order to gainwhat he cannot lose.
And we think about it.
We spend our whole ourexistence trying to stay alive,
trying to preserve our own lives.
All for what?
70 years, 80 years, 90 years,70 years, 80 years, 90 years?
(12:56):
But when we think in terms ofeternity, peter says what is
your life but a vapor, here oneday and gone tomorrow?
Maybe we should focus more ongiving our lives up for Jesus
instead of trying just topreserve our lives for our
comfort.
Another martyr, dietrichBonhoeffer, killed by the Nazis
(13:18):
during World War II, said quotewhen Christ calls a man, he bids
him to come and die.
End quote.
So let me ask you what comfortsof this life are you willing to
lay down for Christ?
Whatever we have, our prizes,our possessions, the things that
(13:39):
we hold dear, and those thingsare fine to have, they're not
bad, they're neutral.
It's how we treat them, how wethink about them, that matters.
Do we hold the things in ourlife loosely and do we lay hold
of Christ tightly?
That's what matters.
And Jesus asked thethought-provoking question for
(14:02):
what does it profit a man if hegains the whole world and loses
or forfeits himself?
Again, he's thinking ofeternity.
You can have it all, he'ssaying, in this life, but at
what cost?
He's saying the forfeit of yoursoul.
It's not worth it.
And this is why this hardmessage softened hearts and many
(14:26):
were willing, and havethroughout the centuries, even
to this very day, to not denythemselves, to take up their
cross to follow Jesus, and someto the point of death.
And in death they gained life,everlasting heaven, eternity.
And they hear the blessed wordsthat all believers want to hear
(14:48):
and long for Well done, goodand faithful servant.
So the call to discipleship.
So the call to discipleship,it's personal and it's costly,
but it's life-giving.
Jesus says in John, chapter 10,verse 10, the thief comes only
to steal, kill and destroy.
(15:10):
I came that they may have lifeand have it abundantly, and that
they that he's talking aboutare his followers.
The Bible uses the metaphor ofsheep and Jesus being the
shepherd, the good shepherd ofhis sheep, and he says I came to
bring life, abundant life.
(15:30):
And here it is again, anotherparadox it's sacrifice that
leads to abundant life.
Jesus provides the abundantlife through giving up his life.
It's so interesting that thepathway to contentment is not
through the accumulation of manythings, but the willingness to
(15:52):
give up all things.
The pathway to joy is not doeverything you can to be happy,
but to rest in Christ.
The pathway to fulfillment andunderstanding purpose and
meaning in this life is to findand understand our created
purpose in knowing God and beingunited to him through his son,
(16:13):
jesus Christ, him through hisson, jesus Christ.
And once all these things arein place, everything starts to
make sense, as if we were meantfor this.
Almost every great catechismbegins with the question what is
the chief end of man, or whatis the purpose for which man
exists?
The world will tell youhappiness, contentment,
(16:36):
wholeness, fullness,satisfaction.
But the Word of God says man'schief end purpose for being is
to glorify God and to enjoy Himforever.
It signifies a relationshipwith God and that we get to
enjoy Him and in doing so, allthe things that the world longs
(16:56):
for is fulfilled in knowing Godthrough Christ.
This world promises freedom,but it only delivers slavery.
Jesus demands surrender andgives life, for if the Son has
set you free, you are free.
Indeed, it is life-giving.
Think about your own life andyour own journey, times in which
(17:17):
you submitted yourself inobedience to Christ, and how
that brought you joy, howobedience and submission brought
forth freedom in your life.
It's a wonderful thing.
To be a follower of Jesus, is abeautiful thing, it's a good
thing, it's a noble thing.
So ask yourself am I followingJesus as a true disciple or just
(17:42):
a fan?
Maybe you attend church, maybeyou're involved in religious
activity, maybe you identify asspiritual.
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Have you responded to hispersonal call to follow him.
Have you recognized that thiscall is costly?
Are you willing to denyyourself, to die to yourself and
(18:04):
to follow Jesus?
Do you know and have youexperienced that this call is
life-giving, that throughobedience we experience freedom?
Are these increasing realitiesin your life?
So let me challenge you Identifyone act of obedience that
you've delayed and take it thisweek.
(18:25):
Maybe there's something thatyou've been holding on to and
you haven't given that to theLord, whatever that thing might
be, and you're delaying in that.
Let me just challenge you Givethat to the Lord, give that up
that you would be a faithfulfollower, continuing on with
Christ.
So just to recap, discipleshipis personal, discipleship is
(18:48):
costly and it is life-giving.
I pray you're challenged, maybeconvicted, but encouraged to go
on, to continue this journey.
Maybe you're weary, maybe thebattle seems to be just
overwhelming you.
You are not alone.
The Christ that calls you isthe Christ that walks with you
(19:10):
Because, as the Apostle Paultells us, it is Christ in us,
the hope of glory, and I praythat that truth sustains you,
motivates you, strengthens youas you seek to be faithful in
following Jesus.
I want to thank you forlistening to the Pleasing God
podcast.
(19:30):
If you have any questions, Iwould love to hear from you.
You could reach out atquestions at
pleasinggodpodcastorg.
And remember 1 Thessalonians4.3,.
This is the will of God, yoursanctification.
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