These couple of verses struck me as interesting. There are certain cycles and rhythms to life and the Christian life is no different. So where do things start off?
9 As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him.
We start off as followers. Heeding the call of Jesus.
34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.
Mark 8:34
Jesus doesn’t call us to stay followers. He calls us to something deeper. “Calling the crowd to join his disciples”, you must give up your lives. To become a disciple it requires total commitment.
1 Jesus called his twelve disciples together and gave them authority to cast out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and illness. 2 Here are the names of the twelve apostles:
Surprisingly discipleship isn’t the end goal. In verse one these twelve men are addressed as disciples and then in verse two they are apostles. It’s almost as if the disciples have finished there incubation period and are now ready to be sent out with power and authority. And I think the same is true for us. There are times of waiting and learning and once that season is done we’re given a job and the necessary tools to complete that job.
Are we all called to be apostles? I think not.
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers.
Not that the disciples didn’t come back to Jesus to learn more. They certainly did. In fact there’s a certain ebb and flow to the life of the disciples. Jesus teaches them and then sends them out, he teaches them some more and sends them out again.
So how does this apply to me?
What’s important here, is that there is continual growth in the Kingdom of God. He is calling us to the deeper things. Are we listening?
Mighty Anchor 