Continuing on from yesterday, and considering what and how we do what Jesus did here on earth, we need to be mindful that as we grow in our walk with God, so too will our capacity and desire to model those things Jesus did, through our own personality and expression. There are stages! If we cast our mind back to a few days ago, we talked about the importance of ‘practice or training’ - which applies in this instance too. We have to acknowledge the season and stage of our walk with Jesus and recognise that there are some things that Jesus did, that we may do in the future but it’s not something we’re ‘trained in’ at this point in time.

However, everyone can start with the basics. One of the most basic things Jesus did was to be present with people and eat with them, particularly those far from God. Scriptures tell us Jesus came to seek and save the lost, and He came eating and drinking.

Consider the story of Matthew the tax collector......

Luke 5:29-32
Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, "Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?" Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Jesus was known as a friend of sinners. Is there someone you know far from God who you can open your world to?

When Jesus said the second greatest commandment is to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’ - could it be that it wasn’t a metaphor, but literally the person right next door? Possibly we make the mission of Jesus more complex or complicated than it needs to be. Why not be intentional to get to know your neighbour literally right next door, share a meal with them, celebrate a public holiday together, throw a street BBQ? Or what about the person you stand next to on the treadmill every morning at the gym? Or the person you pass each evening walking your dog?

Another most basic practice Jesus modelled was to live in the moment. Jesus saw and met people right where they were at. It did, however mean life was interrupted on a regular basis. Think of his meeting with the Samaritan woman at the well, scriptures tell us Jesus was tired. But He was still willing to engage and bring her the ‘living water’. Jesus modelled and encouraged us to share about God ‘as we go’, in our everyday life. Matthew 10:7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

Who knows what God is waiting to do in and through you!

All of us can sit around a table with someone else. All of us can slow down and open our eyes to see those in need and let them see Jesus through you.

You may remember one of the first scriptures we looked at in week one was Matthew 28:18-20.

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. GO therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’

As we bring this devotion to a close, just like we have to make a ‘radical decision’ to ‘be with Jesus’ - there is also a call to make a ‘radical commitment’ to ‘GO’ and show others how to be a disciple of Jesus. There is intention attached with the word ‘GO’. Is being a ‘discipler’ your deep intention? Are you ‘determined’ to open your world to others so they see Jesus? And walk with them for as long as it takes to see them doing the same? Yes, we start with the basics to do what Jesus did, and we grow in stages, however, it takes a radical commitment to keep it as a priority in our lives.

We hope you continue to work through all that we have talked about over the past 2 weeks. Learning to be a disciple and a discipler of Jesus is a life-long journey that we are all on together. Continue to ask great questions and have conversations with God and people, until ‘Be with Jesus, Become like Jesus and Do what Jesus Did’ is radically integrated in to every part of your lifestyle.