5 Selected Bible Verses – How To Follow Jesus

The life of Jesus, in His three years of ministry on earth, was absolutely pure. He actions and reactions, to those blessed to be in His presence, were the perfect example of how one leads a God centered life.

Thankfully, for those of us not of that time in Israel, Jesus’ words for salvation and life were transferred onto parchment.

In the book of Matthew a young man asked Jesus how to get to heaven. Jesus responded with Moses’ Ten Commandments, which the man accepted, but then Jesus’ final portion of His answer made this young man sad.

Matthew 19:16-22 Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “ ’You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself. “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Jesus’ answer to life was to follow the Ten Commandments. That part is easy to understand. It’s the selling off of the possessions that often confuse people. Jesus does not want us to give up our wealth, our possessions, things we worked hard for and purchased.

What Jesus wants is for us to relinquish the false love we have for these items and instead focus our love on God.

Cars, jewelry, sports…these things aren’t sinful. Sin arises once we indulge them with our time, our love, when our motives for them are prideful. Instead, we should be giving our all to God.

Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord,

Jesus magnified this truth again when He spoke to His disciples about ridding oneself of anything that causes us to stumble. He doesn’t literally mean we should cut off our hand or foot. He means if there is anything we are doing that takes precedent over Him–stop it!

Mark 9:43-45 If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown in hell.

Once we place God first in our lives, acknowledge His sovereignty, we will receive the Holy Spirit. This is called being Born Again. Followers of Jesus literally have Holy Spirit living inside of us, we have a spiritual rebirth.

John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

To follow Jesus means to verbally proclaim Him. Jesus does not force Himself on anyone. We must ask Him into our hearts. Everyone–Jew, Gentile, Muslim, atheist…if anyone, at anytime in their life–their best or worst day (as Jesus hung on the cross the crucified man to His left declared Jesus sinless and was saved by Jesus just before he died)–declares Jesus their Lord and savior they forever become a follower of Jesus Christ.

Romans 10:9-13 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

ARE YOU A FOLLOWER OF JESUS?

If you’re uncertain you’ve ever invited Jesus into your heart – now is the perfect time. Pray this sinner’s prayer found at Gotquestions.com. Only through Jesus Christ can you receive the redemptive hope that He alone offers.

“God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I deserve the consequences of my sin. However, I am trusting in Jesus Christ as my Savior. I believe that His death and resurrection provided for my forgiveness. I trust in Jesus and Jesus alone as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank you Lord, for saving me and forgiving me! Amen!”

Learn and share the importance of keeping God’s name holy. Order copies of my book, LIFT HIM UP DON’T PULL HIM DOWN, @LULU.COM or AMAZON.COM for your next Bible study.