“Last Sunday at church,” I commented one morning, “the pastor’s message was on the Great Commission.”
“What was his focus?” Stan asked.
“What I got out of the message was two-fold,” I replied. “First, he was talking about that the Great Commission is about making disciples, not just converts.”
“That’s a good point,” Stan replied. “I think Jesus focused on the discipleship part rather than the conversion part because the conversion part is a given. People can’t become disciples until they come to faith. What was your second take-away from the message?”
“That Jesus said to ‘go,’ and that I need permission to stay.”
“Again,” Stan said, “that’s a really good point. And the ‘go’ part means that I go from where I am to where God wants me to be. It may be going across the room, across the street, across town, or across the world. Wherever He has for me to go I am to go and make disciples.”
“However,” Stan then said, “there’s always other voices that also says, ‘go’ that I have to be careful to ignore.”
“What other voices?” I asked.
“The voice of self, along with the voices of the world, the flesh, and the devil, that are constantly trying to get in the way of my listening to the voice of God. Those voices try to convince me that God doesn’t really want me to go anywhere with Him, that I can go wherever I want apart from Him.”
“Kind of like those voices try to convince you that you can give yourself permission to stay, that you can ignore God’s ‘go.’ Is that it?”
“That’s it, my friend,” Stan replied. “And I have to always remember who it is who does not want me to go and make disciples, wherever that ‘go’ may lead me, and whatever that ‘go’ may cost me. I have to be alert to whose ‘go’ or ‘not go’ I’m following!”
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Bible verses to consider:
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:19-20.
Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. James 4:7.
Do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:27.
Prayer: Thank you, Father, for your free and gracious provision of salvation and redemption that I could accept and then go forward to pursue being a disciple. Thank you, too, for the command to go and make disciples. I confess that too often I do not go where you have for me to go because I choose to stay where I am or I choose to go elsewhere. Please forgive that disobedience to what you have for me. And please help me in following every step of your lead to go where you want me to go, wherever that might be, doing whatever you have for me to do, however you have for me to do it. Thank you I can and do bring these prayers before you in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Think on this: Are you pursuing discipleship after your conversion? If no, is that because you have not yet accepted by faith God’s free and gracious gift of salvation? If that’s the case, what is standing in your way? If you do have the assurance of salvation and are pursuing discipleship, how are you doing with the Great Commission to go and make disciples, remembering it is about discipleship, not just conversion? If you are having trouble with the “go” part, how can that disobedience be changed? Is that what you want? Why or why not?
Waiting for the Train 