20
Discipleship
| Bro James Mwangomo (Mbeya, Tanzania)
W
hen I was doing the Bible correspon-
dence course, “The New Life in Christ”,
in Lesson 12 I came across the word
‘discipleship’. I learnt that true discipleship
demands discipline and determination. It
means a sacrifice of self-interest and a
willingness to follow Christ in spite of any
opposition from enemies. We must be
prepared to make an all-out commitment to
follow him. It is essential that we grow in our
relationship with the Lord Jesus and seek to
follow him daily. As the word ‘disciple’ means
a learner, we must therefore accept the
teachings of our Master and practice them.
Christian discipleship is unique in that it
starts with Christ’s call to us, not that we call
Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22). The call has been
made to every disciple who follows the Lord
Jesus Christ. Our response to the call must be
one of willingness, a total surrender of our
will to him. We must follow the lifestyle of
Jesus as our pattern and example, for true
discipleship means being bound firmly to the
one who calls, and submitting to his plan and
purpose. Our personal relationship with the
Lord is so much more important than
anything we could achieve in any other way.
We serve him wholeheartedly: “Remain in me
and I will remain in you” (John 15:4-5).
The cost of discipleship is to deny ourselves,
deliberately choosing the way of the cross by
following Jesus. We must totally reject self-
will and allow Christ to rule in our lives.
Discipleship gives us a new purpose by living
a life free from sin. Jesus will make us what
he wants us to be.
Therefore, by choosing the way of Jesus and
the cross, we must be prepared to endure
whatever comes, simply because we have
made the decision to follow Christ. It signi-
fies the utmost in self-denial by obeying his
word, and giving a public acknowledgement
that we belong to Christ whatever the conse-
quences of taking a stand against sin and
resisting its influence on our lives.
As Christadelphians, we can be compared to
a marathon runner who strives to win. We
must make every effort to abandon anything
that drags us down. Let us throw off every-
thing that hinders. We are imitating our Lord
Jesus who was meek, kind, faithful. God
wants us to show devotion to Him and
respond to His word because He wants to
fulfill His purpose in our lives.
O
ne Sunday at the ecclesia during
Sunday School lessons, I invited three
children to find a Bible which was hidden
among other books. I told them that once
they found it and read the word Bible
aloud, I would give them a prize. They ran
and started sorting the books. Their hunt
for the Bible was intense, and exciting.
Their diligent search and subsequent
discovery of the Bible led to joy in the
children, and a renewed sense of the
importance of the Bible as God’s word.
In the reference in 2 Kings 22:8-23, we
read how King Josiah and the people of
Judah discovered the joy and importance
of God’s word. When they were repairing
the temple, Hilkiah the high priest found
the book of the Law. It must have been
hidden during the reign of Manasseh. Then
when the scroll was read to King Josiah, he
listened and responded to it (v10-11). He
sought their understanding of it (v12-20).
And he led the people to renew their
commitment to its importance in their
lives (23:1-4).
Many people today have unprecedented
access to God’s word. Let us renew our
commitment to search the Bible every day
and, by our lives, show its prominence.
“To know Christ is to know the Bible”
“Find the Book” ~ 2 Kings 22:8-23:3
| Bro Isaac Kapa (Tongaren, Kenya)