Introduction
Deuteronomy 1:6-7a (NLT) ‘“When we were at Mount Sinai, the Lord our God said to us, ‘You have stayed at this mountain long enough. It is time to break camp and move on…’
“The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heart-breaking needs, is whether those who…are identified as “Christians” will become disciples—students, apprentices, practitioners—of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.”[1] ~ Dallas Willard
Body
Jesus:
“Follow me” (Mark 1:17)
“Come to me” (Matthew 11:28)
“Abide in me” (John 15:4)
Mark 1:17 (ESV) And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
“As Jesus’s disciple, I am his apprentice in kingdom living. I am learning from him how to lead my life in the kingdom of the heavens as he would lead my life if he were I.”[2] ~ Dallas Willard
Mark 8:34-38 (ESV) And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.
“The claim of Jesus is a total and exclusive one. It does not allow a convenient compartmentalization of natural life and religious life, of secular and sacred. The whole person stands under Christ’s claim.”[3] ~ James R. Edwards
Mark 8:34-38 (TPT) Jesus had his disciples and the crowd gather around him. And he said to them: “If you truly want to follow me, you should at once completely disown your own life. And you must be willing to share my cross and experience it as your own, as you continually surrender to my ways. For if you let your life go for my sake and for the sake of the gospel, you will continually experience true life. But if you choose to keep your life for yourself, you will forfeit what you try to keep. For what use is it to gain all the wealth and power of this world, with everything it could offer you, at the cost of your own life? And what could be more valuable to you than your own soul? If you are ashamed of me and my words while living among sinful and faithless people, then I, the Son of Man, will also be ashamed of you when I make my appearance with my holy messengers in the glorious splendor of my Father!”
Conclusion
Galatians 2:20 (TPT) My old identity has been co-crucified with Christ and no longer lives. And now the essence of this new life is no longer mine, for the Anointed One lives his life through me— we live in union as one! My new life is empowered by the faith of the Son of God who loves me so much that he gave himself for me, dispensing his life into mine!
[1] Willard, Dallas, The Great Omission, pg xv
[2] Dallas Willard, Renewing the Christian Mind, pg. 280
[3] Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. The Pillar New Testament Commentary.