Out for a “Talk”
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.” - (Matthew 16:24)
I think sometimes that Jesus has a lot of so-called followers today who are more like Twitter followers. Twitter followers know what someone says, and that is the extent of it.
It is how a lot of us are with Christ: “I am a follower of Jesus. . . . Did He Tweet today?”
But following Christ is more than that. Jesus said to Matthew, “Follow Me” (Matthew 9:9). Matthew wasn’t a believer at the time. He was a tax collector working for Rome. But Jesus walked up to him, looked at him (or right through him), and said, “Follow Me.” Matthew bolted up from that table and began to follow Christ.
The phrase “Follow Me” also could be translated “Follow with Me”—not follow behind Me, but follow with Me. In other words, “Let’s take a walk together.”
The other day I took a walk with my wife, Cathe. I bolted out the door, and she asked me to slow down and wait for her. That is not the way for a husband to walk with his wife, and that is not the way to walk with the Lord. We are not to walk ahead of Him.
To be a follower of Jesus means that He walks with us. We are never alone.
Sometimes Cathe will take a walk with her girlfriends. When she tells me she is going on a walk with certain friends, I will say, “You are going on a talk, not a walk.” It has nothing to do with walking, and she admits that is true.
The Lord wants to go on a “talk” with you, not just a walk. It is not about how fast can you move. It is about fellowship and companionship.
Copyright © 2013 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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