Hello Again!
Hi Sweet Friend,
It has been a minute since we last connected!
I have been recovering from outpatient surgery and getting back into my routine throughout the month of July.
This was definitely not the summer I intended to have (Covid and the surgery were surprises!), but it's been good nonetheless.
BIG NEWS: I will soon be releasing the 2nd book in my children's book series, "Who is Jesus?" This second book finds Duckie struggling to obey Farmer Luke. In fact, in "Duckie Learns an Important Lesson," Duckie learns another important part of Jesus' character.
I'll update you all when it's officially released on Amazon! 🥰
In the meantime, we will continue to take a look at commands Jesus said while He did His earthly ministry. Taking the time to not just read these commands, but look at how to live them out is important. We want to be sisters who are doers of God's Word, not just listeners.🥰
Jesus laid out one of His final commands after His resurrection. We now call it the "Great Commission." In that commission, He told His disciples to go and teach others what He had commanded them. That's why we are looking into these earlier commands of Jesus. This month we'll look at two of them: "Follow Me" and "Rejoice!"
Now, "Follow Me," sounds like an easy command to do...but yet, it's so hard to actually do!
I live near Yellowstone National Park. Every time I go to the west side of the park to see the Paint Pots, Old Faithful, fumaroles, or any other interesting bubbling or spewing hole in the ground, I see warning signs.
Some people read all the warning signs and still walk off the boardwalk. It usually does not end well.
These signs aren't there to restrict our fun, but to keep us safe.
In a similar way, following Jesus and becoming His disciple is not about restricting fun or achieving perfection. It's about having the gift of a relationship with Him.
Matthew 4:19 is where we are first introduced to Jesus' command to follow Him. He was talking to Simon (called Peter) and his brother Andrew as they were fishing. He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." (ESV) The Bible says they immediately left their nets and followed Jesus.
Jesus continued to gather His disciples (a word meaning "learner" or "pupil.") with that same command, "Follow Me."
John Nolland, in his commentary on Matthew states, "But what is in view is an apprenticeship which prepares these men for carrying out the same activity as Jesus himself."
Robert H. Stein writes, "Jesus’s command, Follow me, urged the disciples not just to accompany him on his travels but to follow his example and emulate his character. Following Jesus involved significant sacrifice."
In fact, the two Greek words used here are deute and opiso. Deute means, come hither or come now! Opiso means behind or after. So Jesus didn't just offer an invitation, but issued a command. Come now, come after me, follow me!
And they did.
They followed Him, not just physically, but over time were transformed into men who thought more like Jesus and loved more like Jesus and had compassion on others like Jesus.
This is our same command. Follow Him! Paul even said it a different way in 1 Corinthians 11:1, "Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ." (CSB)
This is what it means to be His disciples! And as moms, grandmothers, aunts, sisters, and friends, we are to make disciples of others too.
Friend, you have a beautiful and unique opportunity to influence those in your life that need Jesus, whether that is a spouse, your children, friends, or others.
In the coming weeks, I'll share some practical tools for doing that, and we'll dive into what it means to rejoice in Jesus when the circumstances are hard.
I hope these resources help you and your family draw close to Jesus!
I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, concerns, or prayer requests. 🙂
Blessings,
~ Stephanie
StephanieMBullock.com
John Nolland, The Gospel of Matthew: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2005), 179.
Robert H. Stein, “Differences in the Gospels,” in CSB Study Bible: Notes, ed. Edwin A. Blum and Trevin Wax (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2017), 1504.