Are You Following Jesus

Matthew 4:19: And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

The followers of Jesus and the fishers of men seem to be the same individuals. Being a fisher of men seems to be the evidence that one is a follower of Jesus.

Some men attempt to be fishers of fish without success. That was usually the type of fisherman that I was. As I recall, I probably went fishing about a half dozen times in my youth. I caught a fish on two of those occasions and a minnow on another occasion. If it weren*t for the expertise of those I went fishing with I probably would not have caught any. The few times I went fishing alone I usually caught nothing. Probably because of the poor results and a lack of patience on my part, I did not become an avid fisherman. One fruit of the Spirit is longsuffering (patience) and I was not saved at the time and not very patient.

I also understand that when we share the gospel it does not always result in someone getting saved. But we need to be trying. My pastor shared that only about eight percent of Christians in America have ever shared the gospel. I am hopeful that more than eight percent have at least tried to do that. I believe that if Christians are at least helping other Christians to share the gospel by giving financially and praying, it may be the best they can do. That is between them and the Lord. It may be what He is guiding them to do. I hope the statistic of eight percent is wrong. That would mean that ninety-two percent of us are not following Jesus.

1 Corinthians 3:6: I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. Luke 8:11: Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

2 Timothy 4:2: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

The first one to share the Word of God with an individual would be the planter. All the others who give them the Word of God would be watering. If you are a Christian but you have never given anyone a verse from the Bible, shame on you. If you have given someone the Word of God but it didn*t seem to get any results, keep on keeping on.

I believe that if we included witnessing, evangelism, financial giving, inviting others to church, bringing them to church, loving them, praying for them, planting and watering, the number of Christians that are not following Jesus would be much smaller than ninety-two percent.

If we are not doing SOMETHING for the lost, we are not following Jesus. We must all start small and if we do that, the Lord will give us much fruit.

Luke 19:17: And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities.

I am very glad that the verse says: faithful in a VERY little because that is all I could be faithful in at the beginning.

John 15:5: I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

Philippians 4:13: I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Care to discuss Are You Following Jesus with Ron?

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