First, He called the people to repent. We often have the idea that repentance means simply asking for forgiveness for our sins. However, it is so much more than that! Repentance means changing your mind and submitting to a new way of thinking in order to have a more fulfilled life.

So, basically, the people of that time heard Jesus saying they should change their thinking! Did you know to change your thinking you must come to the realization that you have been thinking wrong? There must be a spoken confession like, ‘Wow! I have been going about this all wrong’ for there to be true repentance.

In other words there would need to be a system of confession or telling the truth of where one was really at in their beliefs for the mind change to take place. Well, that’s for another post, another time.

Secondly, He told the people that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. If I heard a neighbor walking around the neighborhood proclaiming that our thinking is not aligning with God’s Kingdom, I would hopefully stop and listen.

The religious leaders’ and God-fearing believers’ thoughts were formed according to their century-old traditions. They followed the laws Moses handed down to them as the only path to Salvation until the day their true Messiah would come to save them.

When Jesus—preceded just months before by John the Baptist—started declaring these things, the people would have stopped suddenly and been startled by such a statement. This was Jesus’ first invitation! He invited the people to stop and listen.

One day, shortly after giving this first invitation, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee. He did something interesting that really begins our thought process on discipleship. Allow me to continue the story straight from the book of Matthew:

And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” They immediately left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him. –Matt 4:18-22

Now, I want you to pause for only two minutes. Read those few verses two more times. Then, close your eyes and picture the scene in your mind. Ask God what He wants to tell you from this passage. Be silent and wait patiently for a minute or two for Him to answer. Finally, I want you to answer the following question for yourself: when does the discipleship process truly begin? Did you do it? If so, then keep on reading.

Discipleship is often portrayed as mystical or used as a general term within the church community. We know once we believe in Jesus and are saved that we become His disciples. We may even come to the realization that we have a responsibility as disciples to invest in the lives of other new believers.

This all seems easy but we often wonder how to begin, where to start, and who we should disciple. Some of us even wonder if we are qualified enough. Shouldn’t one first attend Bible school before jumping into the discipleship business? What if you don’t have a gift for teaching?

How will discipleship work then? When we get to a place where we actually start discipling others, we often wonder how long we should disciple them. What I have found in walking in a relationship with God the Father and searching the Scriptures is that it is actually much simpler than we often

perceive.

In those days, a potential student of a formal Jewish Rabbi would have sought out his teacher and followed him until accepted or rejected. The Rabbi would have known the student’s school history, family, and maybe even their character. After being baptized by the last great prophet, overcoming Satan in the wilderness, and walking out in power, Jesus took a walk by the ocean and decided to call four young fishermen to follow Him.

He didn’t look for scholars or even Rabbis to follow Him but called simple young men from the community to become His disciples. These young men were the sons of fishermen, and their fathers before them were probably also fishermen. Most of the Jews in Galilee at the time were illiterate and Jesus chose them to become disciples who would disciple others.

Only the elite received an education and were able to read and write. Why didn’t Jesus choose more educated individuals to become His disciples? Would it have been wrong to choose the highly educated? He reverses the process by choosing four uneducated men—who probably haven’t even attended Torah school—to change their thinking and to follow Him.

He invited these ordinary men into a relationship that would transform them into something new! This leads me to share the first practical essential I have found about the discipleship process.

Discipleship truly begins with an invitation; an invitation to follow someone’s life!

To read Part 2 of this article Go Here

If you enjoyed this post be sure to check out Ian’s first book ‘Making Disciples and Leading Others to Make Them’ – available ➡️ HERE

More on the Compelled Ones Mission HERE

Are you a follower of Jesus and looking for simple ways to share your faith and the hope that is in you?

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