WEEK 4 | FOLLOW
WILL YOU TRULY FOLLOW JESUS ANYWHERE HE LEADS YOU?
Mark 1:17 (ESV) — And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
John 14:6 (ESV) —Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
QUESTIONS:
Do you believe that following after Jesus will lead you to truth and life?
Are you willing to follow Jesus wherever he leads you?
Will you follow when he asks you to leave something you love, wait on something you can’t live without, give something you can’t afford, proclaim something you are embarrassed to say, forgive somebody who shows no remorse, suffer for somebody you don’t know, sell something you want to keep?
At what point does it become too difficult to keep up with Jesus? Where are your limits? What are your boundaries?
CORE TEXT: READ JOHN 21:15-19
Read John 21:15-19
When did Peter stop following Jesus? (Matthew 26:69-75) What does Peter need to do if he wants to follow Jesus again? What is Peter’s following of Jesus eventually going to lead to? Do you think this was something Peter originally planned for his life?
Share an example of a recent time that following Jesus led you to go someplace you didn’t want to go, or do something that you didn’t want to do, or ever think you would do.
Read Luke 9:57-61; Matt. 4:19; 9:9; 10:38; 16:24; 19:21-28; John 10:27
Look up the above passages, read them aloud and answer these three questions:
Who was Jesus talking to, referring to, or addressing?
How did the person or people respond? (if applicable)
What do we learn about the nature of following Jesus?
THE TELL: EXCUSES OR PROCRASTINATION
Jesus is leading everyone who is willing to follow him into a completely new way of living. Following Jesus will challenge all our natural instincts. Everybody has different excuses or reasons why Jesus’ difficult and often sudden challenges can be put off or delayed. These excuses are the tell that though we may think we are followers, really we follow only what is convenient and consistent with our desires and dreams. In your own words describe the excuses seen in the following passages.
Luke 14:18 (ESV) — 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.’
Luke 14:19 (ESV) — 19 And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.’
Luke 14:20 (ESV) — 20 And another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’
Matthew 19:21–22 (ESV) — 21 Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Matthew 13:13 (ESV) — 13 This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
John 6:60, 66 (ESV) — 60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”...66 After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
John 10:33 (ESV) — 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.”
Luke 9:59–60 (ESV) — 59 To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:61–62 (ESV) — 61 Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” 62 Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Which of the above excuses can you currently relate to most?
THE REMEDY : ABSOLUTE SURRENDER
Matthew 10:37–39 (ESV) — 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER MEANS:
The more you trust him, the more you surrender. The more you believe that in him you will find life, the more you surrender. Your five-year plan is his, your hobbies are his, your dreams for you children are his, every dollar you make is his. What breaks his heart begins to break yours, what he came to do you desire to finish.
The cost of following is real. It costs us things we love, but we surrender them because we desire God more. Following Jesus will cost us time we never intended to give. It
will cause us to serve people we initially didn’t care to know. We will be forced to make some difficult decisions, but the more we follow, the more we come to desire the very things we once thought of as sacrifice. It is only in our absolute surrender that we find the life Jesus speaks of.
Here are some examples of how absolute surrender may impact your everyday decisions:
Do our kids travel for sports or participate in youth ministry?
Do we sacrifice late-night television for early morning devotions?
Do we leave Christian small groups to reach our neighbors and co-workers with
the Gospel?
Do we spend our tax return on a house or to send a missionary overseas?
Will we pick up a new hobby, or disciple a fellow believer?
What are some of the things that must be surrendered for you to continue to follow Jesus?
ABSOLUTE SURRENDER DOES NOT MEAN:
Absolute surrender does not mean perfect surrender (Rom. 7:15). Peter fully intended to follow Jesus to the point of death, but he failed (the first time). Following Jesus absolutely is not the same as following him perfectly. If you could do it perfectly, you wouldn’t need Jesus. Jesus will settle for nothing short of absolute surrender, but knows we will fall short of perfect surrender in this life. When we do fail, we repent, we turn, and we surrender again (1 John 1:9).
WHERE DO I BEGIN?
Practically speaking, how do you actually “Follow Jesus” today when He isn’t just strolling around the United States looking for fishermen?
You know his heart as you meditate on and pray his words. (John 14:6-7; John 15:5, Matt. 6:7-13)
You are with him when you surround yourself with others who are filled with his Spirit and live and die by his words.
(John 17:20-23)You serve him when you care for the least and overlooked. (Matt 25:37-40; Luke 14:12-14)
You continue his work when you accept his charge to make disciples. (Matt. 28:18-20, John 17:18-19; John 21:15-19)
Matthew 19:27–30 (ESV) — 27 Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” 28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life. 30 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.
John 10:27–28 (ESV) — 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
THE CHALLENGE : READ A GOSPEL
Read the book of Matthew in a week (an average of 4-5 chapters every day.) It may seem like a lot, but the first step to following Jesus is knowing him inside and out. Observe what he does. Imagine what your interactions with him would be like if you were traveling with him. Explore what a life looks like following closely behind him. There will be plenty of reasons to put off this challenge, but,after going through this lesson,
we know what our procrastination tell us about our willingness to really be followers of Christ.
When you read Matthew, ask yourself the following questions:
Who follows Jesus? What does he promise those that do? What do they discover life with Jesus to be like
Who misses out on life with Jesus? What is the nature of their relationship with Jesus?