Discipleship is a tricky thing. In order to lead someone else, we must first be led. Jesus calls us to follow Him. Are you ready?

24 A person’s steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?

Understanding comes through trust; trust comes by faith; faith comes from believing Jesus. If we truly believe what Jesus says, then we will have faith in Him, which enables us to trust Him, which then leads to understanding. Much of our understanding can be learned through His Word, but what we read must be explained by His Spirit, and many times, we simply don’t have enough parts to make sense of what we know.

For instance, a windshield is made up of a multitude of cut glass three-dimensional orthotopes, also called right rectangular prisms. Even though we might be able to locate all the individual pieces (knowledge) and even glue them back together, we still need a way to bind the pieces together in order to have a clear screen. In our case, even though we might appropriate all the individual pieces to a problem or subject, we still need a Binder in order to understand what we have. We need the Holy Spirit.

¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. 1Corinthians 2:12-13

The question is, are we willing to be taught by the Spirit of God? Are we placing ourselves in a position to learn? Do we read His Word? Do we consult with other Christians, ones who are more mature and wiser than ourselves? Do we listen to sermons and teachings about the Word of God? Do we search the Scriptures for truth? The Berean Jews did. Look:

¹⁰ As soon as it was night, the believers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. ¹¹ Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. ¹² As a result, many of them believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. Acts 17:10-12

Lest we think that Luke was maligning the character of the Jews of Thessalonica, read the next verse:

¹³ But when the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, some of them went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 

Folks, it’s important for us to search the Scriptures every day to see what God wants to teach us. What we learn may not be needed today, but I promise you that it will be soon. There are many things we need to learn and know first so that when specific circumstances arise, we can interpret them according to what we have learned and know. THEN we understand!

So, what kinds of things do we need to know? That’s what I invite you to learn. At Brookwood, we will be beginning a study called, “Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual” by Putman, Willis, Guindon and Krouse, from Navpress. Order a book and join us in person or online each Sunday evening at 5:00. This Sunday, we will be praying for our first week, which we begin on Monday, the 26th. Plenty of time to order a book. If you’re in the area, come by the office and pick one up for $10. I will be available to answer questions, discuss topics, and ask questions of you; just email or text me and/or we’ll set up a time to get together. My email is revkellyanderson@yahoo.com.

Abba, I pray that You will call all my readers to join us in this venture to learn and grow in You. May You call us, urge us, and motivate us to grab a book and learn from each other and from You. Lord Jesus, You are worth following, so I want to know all there is to know about follow-ship. Teach me so that I can teach others. Amen.