AUG 29 – MAKE DISCIPLES!

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…..” (Mathew 28:19).

“Make Disciples” was the last command God gave to His disciples before ascending to heaven. For us too, this is the command God has given. Yes. The disciples following Jesus Christ should increase. Those disciples should fill the whole world. It is easy to make a man Christian, but it is a little tough to make one a disciple.

Jesus Christ created Discipleship. He called saying, “Follow me.” He formed the disciples through His life which was holistic, role model and holy.  He taught them how to pray and also taught them a model prayer. Not only that. He prayed in the Gethsemane garden and made His prayerful life a model for them to follow. He taught them what holiness is. He lived a blemishless life and thereby set an example for a holy life enabling them to follow. He taught them about love. He poured the whole of His love on the Cross of Calvary and revealed the greatness of His love.

Today, there are many preachers and pastors as servants of God. But among all of them, whom our heart prefers is one who loves us like a father or a brother and one who leads a model life. More than the numerous teachings, what our hearts long for, is a leader who leads with a life of witness. That is why Jesus Christ commanded His disciples to make disciples and not Christians.

When Jesus Christ began His ministry, He chose twelve disciples and after some time, it became seventy. Then the number rose to one hundred and twenty. Later this discipleship began to spread rapidly all over the world (Acts 6:7). The Scripture has to expand for the discipleship to increase. The discipleship can be built up only on the basis of the Scripture as well as the model life. The discipleship is the spiritual palace, having Jesus Christ as the foundation and built on indestructible seed, which is the Scripture of life, alone will last forever.

Among the disciples created by Paul, the Apostle, Timothy and Titus are very special. While writing to Timothy, He did not address him as “Timothy, a Christian” but, instead, addressed him as “Timothy, a true son in the faith” (I Timothy 1:2). Dear children of God, when you create disciples for God, you have to do it with love and the feel that they are your spiritual children!

To meditate: “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).