Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." —Matthew 28:18-20
If you read the accounts of Jesus' life in the Gospels, including the beginning of the book of Acts, you will notice that all four authors record Jesus issuing the same command on four different occasions. This wasn't just the authors' way of bringing each record to a similar conclusion. Rather, it was the message that Jesus most wanted His followers to remember. Jesus, through the inspiration of the Father, restated God's first decree in the garden. He reestablished God's original intent for His children.
When we accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, He washed our sins away with His own blood. He received us as His righteousness and He poured His Spirit into ours, making us new men and making us children of God. As God's sons and daughters, this command belongs to us. It belongs to us just as much as it belonged to Adam. It belongs to us just as much as it belonged to the original apostles. It is our command, our directive, and our responsibility to fulfill.
If we were part of the military, we would be accustomed to commands. Instructions from those in authority aren't to be taken lightly. Many of today's Christians don't like to be told what to do. But the scripture calls us the army of God. The apostle Paul refers to us as soldiers in several of his epistles. In some militaries, failure to accomplish a task that has been commanded is punishable by prison and even death. God isn't going to strike us dead if we don't succeed, but with these types of analogies referring to us, maybe we should take our directives and commands more seriously.
More than anything, we should desire to please God. We should desire to please Him more than we want to please our family members or any other human being, including ourselves. A mature Christian begins to think and reason like God. Therefore, mature Christians are naturally busy about the Father's business. We are fulfilling His commands because what is important to Him is important to us. That means we are soul winners and we are disciplers.
Making disciples is just as much a part of being a Christian as going to church. Making disciples is just as much a part of being a child of God as daily devotions. Making disciples is just as much a part of this new life as prayer. After all, you've been commanded to do it.
Scriptural Context Matthew 28:16-20
Concept Reinforcement He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. —Mark 16:15-16
He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are (my) witnesses of these things.” —Luke 24:46-48
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." —Acts 1:8
Prayer
Dear God I thank you for my life and everything you have made me go through. Even in times where I have neither obeyed nor followed your commandments you have been faithful to me
Help me God always to follows your ways and do only the things that you want me to do this prayer I pray in Jesus' name Amen.
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