Great Commission Strategy

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Matt 4:19
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

First of all, Jesus calls us because he sees potential in us. He calls us because he likes us. A rabbi in the days of Jesus only called disciples he knew could be just like him.

Secondly, we follow him. We don’t follow anyone other than Jesus.

Our assignment is connected with our calling. Jesus didn’t just call his disciples to follow him. He also gave them an assignment “I will make you fishers of men”. If they chose to follow him, he will then train them, make them and take them into their real destiny. Which was Catching men.

Maybe some people will hear the call of Jesus to himself and then will get training in business, government, education, etc. He calls us and we follow him into the places he wants to go.

So how do you live this out on a daily basis? And how do you teach others to obey this? I have a couple opinions but I would love to hear how you obey & teach this command to others. So please leave a comment below sharing how you do this!

Action Points:

For me the most basic key to actually living this command on a daily basis is knowing the voice of God.  When the disciples were called to follow Jesus they followed Jesus physically.  They could talk to him, ask him questions.  They could even smell his body odor!

But for you and me we have something even better than that!  We have the Holy Spirit.  And we live by the Spirit and not by rules.  So…if we’re going to follow Jesus.  We need to understand the leading of the Spirit.

And for me the way I am led by the Spirit is by understanding his voice.  It’s not necessarily an audible voice.  Sometimes it’s a feeling that I should, or shouldn’t, do something.  Sometimes it’s a thought.  It can be all sorts of things.  God even spoke to a guy through a donkey in the Bible!

The best way to discern what is God’s voice and what is your voice.  Is by practice.  When I first met my wife I didn’t know her voice from any other lady’s voice.  Now when she calls me I know it’s hear easily.  It works the same with God.

You feel like he is leading you to do something.  So you do it.  And see the results.  That’s how it works!

Many Blessings as you begin to follow Jesus & teach others how to obey this as well!

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matt 4:17

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15

One of the first commands of Jesus is to repent. Now I know that when most people think about the word repent they think of asking forgiveness for their sins. That’s not repentance. That is the result of repentance.

The word repent actually means to change the way you think.

So what is Jesus saying in these two verses? He is saying to change the way you think, why? Because God’s reality, his rule, is right in front of you and if you don’t change the way you think. You’re going to miss it!

Another guy who did a lot of writing in the first century also used the phrase “Repent & Believe.” His name was Josephus. When he used that phrase he was saying “give up your way of doing things and take up mine.”

So if Jesus is using this phrase in the same way he is saying to give up your way of doing things, give up your ideas of what God’s Kingdom is going to look like, and take up my way of doing things.

I guess you could summarize this command like this “Start thinking and acting the way Jesus did and does!”

So how do you actually do this?

I have a couple opinions but I would love to hear how you would go about doing this. So please leave a comment below telling me how you go about changing the way you think and act!

To start thinking the way Jesus thinks we need to immerse our minds in his ways and his acts. In the Old Testament God gave the Israelites specific keys to remembering hundreds of laws. He had them put his law on their doorposts, talk about it all the time, teach it to their children, etc.

So here’s the key to changing the way you think. If Jesus says something about you, or tells you to do something, even if you don’t understand it. Do it!

Then talk about it to your friends. And teach it to your children. It’s amazing how much you learn when you have to actually teach someone what you believe.

On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being I never try to change my thinking and 10 being I immerse my thinking in the ways and acts of Jesus constantly.) rate yourself on How you are actually obeying this command.

Then think about how you might actually teach another person, business, government, nation how to obey this command. Why? Because the Great Commission says to make disciples of nations by teaching them to obey what he has commanded us.

Many Blessings in your journey!