Devotional Thoughts for Today
“Are you a disciple of Jesus?”
Mark 1:16-20 (ESV)
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” 18 And immediately they left their nets and followed him. 19 And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. 20 And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.
What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus Christ? The topic of discipleship is something that I’ve thought about since my time in seminary. I vividly remember our New Testament professor asking the class, “How many of you consider yourself to be Christian?” I wasn’t sure if this was a trick question, but it certainly was the easiest question we’ve been asked in seminary; so all of us raised our hands confidently. But after our response, the professor asked the hardest question in my years of theological training: “How many of you consider yourself to be a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I remember looking around the room, and at first no one raised their hand, and then about five of us in a class of twenty reluctantly put our hands up. Now you need to realize that this was a class of third year seminary students, many of whom had decided to make ministry a full-time career. Yet we were unsure and confused about what discipleship to Christ meant. And then my professor taught me a lesson that I will never forgot and one that I hope you will never forget. In the New Testament, there is no distinction between being a Christian and being a disciple of Christ—they are one and the same.
When we read the Great Commission in the book of Matthew, Jesus calls his first disciples to make more disciples by going out to the nations. But it’s in the book of Acts where we find that the word “Christian” was first used to identify the disciples of Jesus, which simply means those who belong to Christ or who claim to be His followers. For those of us who consider ourselves to be a Christian—and really take that calling seriously—we are committed to a lifetime of discipleship. But what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus? Does it mean going to church every Sunday, belonging to a Christian fellowship, and praying and reading our Bible daily? I believe being a Christian means so much more than that. If I were to summarize what it means to be a disciple in two words, it would be “FOLLOW ME.”
Christianity at its core simply means to follow Christ—no matter where, no matter what, and no matter the cost. And when we look at the Scriptures, the best example of someone who followed after Christ in this manner was one of his first disciples—Simon Peter. I love the example of Peter because it personally gives all believers hope that they can follow after Jesus. Peter’s relationship with Jesus began with a decisive action, as he left his nets and his father’s business in order to become a follower. However, Peter’s path to becoming a disciple was not without difficulty. As you study the Gospels, you realize that Peter was uneducated, prideful, and cowardly, making one mistake after another; yet Jesus never gave up on him. And ultimately, he learned how to follow his Savior. Like Peter, Jesus calls us to follow Him, and we can be encouraged that He makes ordinary fishermen and transforms them into extraordinary disciples.
Prayer: Lord, help us to heed Your call to follow after You. We are grateful that You take ordinary people like us and call us to live extraordinary lives for You. We realize that this is not easy and that our strength will fail us, but teach us how to depend upon You and to count the cost of discipleship. Give us the courage to pick up our cross, deny ourselves, and follow where You lead us. Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Joshua 23
Lunch Break Study
Read Luke 14: 25-33 (ESV): Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.
Questions to Consider
- Why does Jesus tell the crowds to hate our families and our own lives in order to become His disciples?
- What is the cross that we were meant to bear?
- What is the cost of discipleship?
Notes
- Jesus is teaching us that our old allegiances to family and personal identity must be replaced with a new commitment to Him and a newfound identity as His disciple. The large crowds that were following Jesus didn’t all have a fundamental change in the priority of their lives; their loyalties were still divided. Jesus makes it very clear that His true disciples must place Him as the highest priority in their lives. He is not suggesting that we abhor our parents or ourselves but simply to reprioritize our relationships so that He comes before anything else.
- Although all of us will have different crosses to bear, at the bottom line, the cross does refer to some degree of suffering and rejection by the world. There is no way to follow Christ completely without experiencing some level of sacrifice. Following Jesus will cost you something and although this loss may be rewarded with something far better later, there is still an initial investment that will have to be made.
- Jesus tells us that we have to be prepared to renounce everything that we have in order to follow Him. A disciple of Christ cannot hold onto anything too tightly or attempt to control his own destiny. The cost of discipleship may be a loss of a job, a relationship, wealth, or even your own safety and security. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the personal sacrifice necessary to follow Jesus and prepare accordingly.
Evening Reflection
Did you sense Jesus guiding you by the Holy Spirit recently? Did you follow or resist? Is there anything holding you back from wholeheartedly obeying God? Take a few moments to renounce the things that are competing for your allegiance, and consider how you can be a more effective disciple.
Each of the four Gospels begins with differing points of view and emphasis according to each author and audience. The Gospel of Mark begins the story of Jesus Christ, not by tracing His genealogy down a long list of names or even going back to a certain point in time, but it begins with a location. From the vantage point of this particular Gospel, I believe the Spirit of God is interested in teaching us that the gospel had its beginnings in the wilderness. And as we recognize this theme being played out here in this first chapter of Mark, we need to ask ourselves what is the significance of the wilderness.
The AMI QT Devotionals from March 5-11 are provided by Pastor Mark Chun of Radiance Christian Church in S. F. Mark, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.), has been married to Mira for 20 years; they have two children, Jeremiah and Carissa.
The Gospel of Mark opens with John the Baptist’s acknowledgment of the superiority of Jesus’ ministry, based on one very important distinction—the nature of their baptisms. We read that while John baptized his followers in water, Jesus came to baptize His disciples in the Holy Spirit. John clearly saw the limitation of his own ministry, and in this passage he talks about the fact that his own work is limited to baptism by water.
My father passed away the summer of 2017. For many years of his life, he faithfully served as an elder at a large Korean church. I still remember as a kid how happy he was in becoming an elder. His primary function as an elder was to lead and direct the choir, since he had studied music in college; so he faithfully directed the choir to sing songs of worship every Sunday for over two decades. He was also given opportunities to travel throughout parts of the world with the choir on their short-term mission trips—he enjoyed them so much! Those privileges and responsibilities given to him truly motivated him to work even more diligently, preparing Sunday after Sunday. He’d stay up for hours writing and re-writing some of the music pieces for the choir members. Of course, his pursuit of excellence and the hours and hours he put into his preparation also led to a certain set of expectations for the choir members; thus, he also become known as the “scary” elder, as he would at times yell at choir members for not performing to his high standards.
My wife sometimes gets in the mood for jigsaw puzzles, so we’ll get out a 500 or a 1000 pieces puzzle set and get to work putting the picture together. You can spend hours or even days putting the puzzle together, depending on the picture. I’ve asked people their opinions on puzzles; while some feel that it is a total waste of valuable time, others enjoy the satisfaction of finding the matching pieces as they rummage through hundreds of pieces searching for that match. Our family enjoys jigsaw puzzles as our children also get involved.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Rebecca Wong, who is currently serving as the Children’s Ministry Director at Kairos Christian Church. Rebecca is a graduate of Point Loma Nazarene University with a degree in Media Communications.
What is the first word you associate with the word “dysfunctional”? Unfortunately, it wouldn’t be a glitching laptop, a broken zipper, or even a failing organ. I think most people would think of either “family” or “relationship.” Never in the history of mankind has there ever been a “perfect family”—and I think each and every one of us can personally attest to this. We can even see dysfunctional families all throughout the Bible: Adam and his wife playing the blame game right at the beginning of time, their son killing his own brother, Abraham’s family tree of adultery, lies, deceit, and betrayal, and David and his sons targeting each other for the throne—just to name a few of the big ones.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Charles Graham. Charles is a new intern with Kairos, who came aboard in September of 2017. He is currently studying at Talbot School of Theology to prepare himself for a life of service and ministry.
At the end of Genesis 49, we see Jacob pass away. Genesis 50 wastes no time illustrating the immediate effect of Jacob’s death on his son, Joseph. Joseph is crushed at his father’s passing, made evident by his actions: hurling of himself at Jacob’s body, weeping and kissing him. To fully appreciate the sentiment here, we have to grasp the biblical understanding of weeping. When the biblical writers describe an instance of someone weeping, they do not mean soft sobbing and a few tears. No, weeping in their eyes is instead a strong, sometimes uncontrollable act of lamentation. Jacob’s death, in fact, carries such weight that all of Egypt mourns his passing for 70 days, just two days less than that of a Pharaoh’s.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is written by Esther Chailim. Esther, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, is currently serving as the director of ministries at Kairos Christian Church (San Diego) and pursuing a Masters in Christian Ministry and Leadership at Talbot Theological Seminary.
For many, the end of life often calls for deep reflection on the things most important to them. Some reflect on the great memories they’ve had, while others think about what they would have done differently. In a similar fashion, this final request from Jacob was of great importance to him. Of all the choice words he could have said in his very last moments, he chose to give final instructions on the burial of his body. It’s important to note that though Jacob had been residing in Egypt for 17 years and had quite a successful life there with his sons, he knew his future did not lie there. Rather, he desired to be buried alongside his forefathers in Canaan, because it was the place in which God made his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, promising the land to them and all their descendants (Genesis 28:13-14). In other words, life to Jacob was found in the Promised Land, where he knew he would be in the special presence of the Lord. To Jacob, Canaan was more than just his hometown; it marked a statement of future hope. Thus, the burial in Canaan with his forefathers revealed Jacob’s hope and faith that God’s covenant promise would eventually come to pass.
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is provided by Pastor Peter Yoon of Kairos Christian Church in San Diego. Peter is a graduate of U.C. Riverside and Talbot School of Theology (M.Div.). He and his wife Jessica have three very active children: Nathan, Abigail, and Jason.
If you’ve been watching the news lately, you have seen the downfall of Hollywood’s moguls, news anchormen, actors, etc. The victims in Hollywood are finally mustering up courage to tell their stories, leading to the permanent dismissal of men who have used their fame, popularity, and position to abuse women for many years. Many people are probably thinking, “It’s about time…”
Today’s AMI QT Devotional is written by Joshua Chzen who serves as the college pastor at Kairos Christian Church (San Diego, California). Joshua, a graduate of University of California, San Diego, is currently pursuing a Master of Divinity at Bethel Seminary. He and Sandra were recently married in 2017. 
There’s an old Indian fable about a group of blind men who encounter an elephant in their travels. Since the animal is unfamiliar to them, they begin to feel around to try to understand what they face. As each of them touches a different part, every one of the men reaches a different conclusion about the creature in their path. One man touches the elephant’s ear and decides that it must be a large fan. Another wraps his arms around its foot and thinks he’s embracing a tree. The rest of them think they’ve found a spear (its tusk), a snake (its trunk), and a wall (its side). Of course, none of them are correct. This story is commonly used to illustrate issues of perspective in relation to truth; with only a limited perspective to aid their understanding, none of the men really know the truth of what they’ve encountered. (Of course, someone saw the whole thing; otherwise there is no story to tell—sorry relativism.)