Does anyone else find it interesting that the first thing Jesus said to His disciples was, “Come, follow me.”? (Matt 4:19)  Not, “Believe in me” or “Love me,” but “Come, follow me.” That meant they had to stop what they were doing and where they were headed and change their direction and their intention a completely new way.

It’s also interesting to note that Jesus’ first public sermon began with the word repent.  Guess what that means?  It doesn’t mean ” say you’re sorry.”  He meant turn around and move in an entirely new direction.  God and Satan are at opposite ends of the spiritual world.  All of us, by virtue of being here on earth, are headed toward Satan.  In order to see, hear and follow Jesus, we must turn around.  Once we do that, we must keep following the Light of God by our obedience.  The more obedient we are, the closer to God we move and the greater our faith becomes.

Remember that salvation is not a “get out of jail free” card–you land on the church square and follow the directions.  If that worked, being sons of Abraham and following the law of Moses would have been enough.  We must discover what it means to be a disciple–like they were in Jesus’ time–students who learned by going where their teacher went, listening to what their teacher said, and doing what their teacher did.  As we do this, our faith will grow and grow and we will begin to believe God for, not just the improbable, but for the impossible.