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What was Jesus’ purpose on the planet? He said it himself:

John 4:34
Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work." NAS

John 5:30
"I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." NAS

John 6:38-39
"For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day." NAS

Jesus gives us the example to be the followers He has called us to be. Notice from the following scriptures how many times the biblical writers reiterate the call to follow.

Matthew 4:19
And He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." NAS

Matthew 8:22
But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me; and allow the dead to bury their own dead."  NAS

Matthew 9:9
And as Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he rose, and followed Him. NAS

Matthew 10:38
"And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." NAS

Matthew 16:24
Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." NAS

Matthew 19:21
Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." NAS

Mark 1:17
And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." NAS

Mark 1:20
And immediately He called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went away to follow Him. NAS

Mark 2:14
And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, "Follow Me!" And he rose and followed Him. NAS

Mark 5:37
And He allowed no one to follow with Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James. NAS

Mark 8:34
And He summoned the multitude with His disciples, and said to them, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." NAS

Mark 10:21
And looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." NAS

Mark 15:41
And when He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him; and there were many other women who had come up with Him to Jerusalem. NAS

Luke 5:27
And after that He went out, and noticed a tax-gatherer named Levi, sitting in the tax office, and He said to him, "Follow Me." NAS

Luke 5:28
And he left everything behind, and rose and began to follow Him. NAS

Luke 9:23
And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." NAS

Luke 9:59
And He said to another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Permit me first to go and bury my father." NAS

Luke 9:61
And another also said, "I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home." NAS

Luke 18:22
And when Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." NAS

John 1:43
The next day He purposed to go forth into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, "Follow Me." NAS

John 10:4
"When he puts forth all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice." NAS

John 10:5
"And a stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers." NAS

John 10:27
"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;" NAS

John 12:26
"If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him". NAS

John 13:36
Simon Peter said to Him, "Lord, where are You going?" Jesus answered, "Where I go, you cannot follow Me now; but you shall follow later." NAS

John 13:37
Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You right now? I will lay down my life for You." NAS

John 21:19
Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when He had spoken this, He said to him, "Follow Me!" NAS

John 21:22
Jesus said to him, "If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!" NAS

2 Thessalonians 3:9
...not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, that you might follow our example. NAS

1 Peter 2:21
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps... NAS

2 Peter 1:16
For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. NAS

Revelation 14:4
These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. NAS

These scriptures form the basis of our thinking as  followers of Christ.

If Jesus was the greatest follower, why are we so enamored with leading? Could we, in our zeal for the church to make an impact on the culture, have begun teaching how to lead BEFORE realizing that the culture of Christianity is not based on leading but on following?  I propose that the church would be better training its members the concepts of following rather than leading.  Once a person understands his or her position as a follower of Christ, THEN the person can learn HOW to lead but more importantly, WHERE to lead. Followers of Christ always seek to lead others to follow Christ.

 

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