Following Jesus 跟从耶稣
Author: Ps Andrew Xu
“And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
The Christian faith is not one of mere form & rituals, but one of life and relationship. We can be attending service weekly, even responsibly serving in ministry yet our relationship with God could be far apart or broken. In this relationship with the Almighty, following is an imperative action. God calls us to follow Him and we respond by making an intentional decision to follow Him. In the verse above in the gospel of Luke, it tells of 2 main points about following God. Firstly, if anyone would follow God, he must deny himself. Secondly, if anyone would follow God, he must take up His cross daily. Let us understand more of what Jesus wants to say to us.
1. Deny himself to follow God
The first step towards following God is to deny ourselves. When Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him, they immediately responded by casting their nets aside. The net represents their current livelihood, their life in the past and who they were, but not who they will be. Because of the call of Jesus, there will be an impending and major transformation that will happen. This transformation begins with the denying of themselves. To fully put down their past, choosing to follow Jesus and to put their will be in the hands of Jesus Christ their Lord. Our following of our Lord Jesus is also similar. When we want to follow Jesus, it means that we will put aside our past and our now, and hand over our future in the hands of Jesus. Where He goes, we will follow, what He does, we will do. The “me” of the past is “dead and gone”, it is no long I who live but Christ who lives in me (Galatians 2:20). This is the denying of ourselves, to put our old self to “die” and to be alive in God, following Him with all we are and have.
2. Take up his cross daily to follow God
Denying ourselves is the first step of following God, what comes after is a whole life of work. We often describe the cross as suffering because the suffering of the cross is most excruciating. But the cross is not just the suffering, but also the destiny and mission that God the Father has given to Christ the Son. The suffering of the cross will never be greater than the mission of the cross. When Jesus tells us to “take up our cross daily”, it is not a life of daily suffering, but one of living in His will daily and to live daily in the mission He has entrusted to us. The mission becomes our life and the totality of our life to finish the mission. This process goes on every day till we see God again.
文：许燕杰传道
“耶稣又对众人说：“如果有人愿意跟从我，就当舍己，天天背起他的十字架来跟从我。凡是想救自己生命的，必丧掉生命；但为我牺牲自己生命的，必救了生命。”
基督教信仰并不是一个形式化的宗教而是一个生活化的关系。我们可能每个星期都来教会，甚至在教会的事奉岗位上尽责，却跟上帝的关系疏远，甚至根本不认识祂。在这跟上帝的关系中，跟从是个必须行动。上帝呼召我们跟从祂，我们回应祂的呼召并立定心志跟从。而耶稣在以上路加福音的经文中提到跟从的两大点。第一，要舍己。第二，天天背起十字架，让我们更加了解耶稣想说什么。
1. 舍己的跟从
跟从的第一步是舍己，当耶稣呼召门徒彼得和安德烈的时候，他们立刻撇下了网跟从了祂。那网代表着他们目前的生计、过往的人生和曾经的所为，但却不是他们的未来。因着耶稣的呼召，他们的未来将要有极大的改变，这改变是从舍己开始。彻底放下他们过去和曾经，选择跟从耶稣，将他们的将来放在神的手中，听凭主命。我们跟从耶稣也是如此。当我们说要跟从耶稣的时候，就要将我们的过去和现在撇下，将我们的未来交在耶稣的手中。祂去哪里我们就到哪里，祂做什么我们就做什么，过去的“我”已经“死”了，现在活着的不再是我，乃是基督在我里面活着（加拉太2:20）。这就是舍己，旧我已死，如今在主里活着，从此跟从。
2. 天天背起十字架跟从
决定舍己是第一步，舍己后的生活却是一辈子的功课。我们常常将十字架形容成受苦，因为十字架的苦是很难受的。但十字架并不止是苦难，也是父神给神子耶稣基督的命定与使命。十字架的苦远远不及十字架的使命。而当耶稣说跟从祂的人要“天天背起十字架”的时候，并不是说天天受苦，而是天天行在祂的旨意中，活在祂所赐的使命中。使命就是我们的人生，我们的人生的全部就为了完成神托付的使命，天天都是如此。