What is a Disciple? – Abide in the Vine

Somehow, I’d missed it, former procrastinators.  Months ago my friend Ana referred to a characteristic Jesus Himself named as a mark of His disciples.  “Wait.  Jesus spelled out traits of His disciples?”  Yes, she said and reeled off the references.  There are five. I’ve been thinking about them ever since, especially as they apply to procrastination and diligence.

But first, what is a disciple?

Today, we generally refer to ourselves as Christians or believers in Christ.  Honestly, those words  seem to have carried more weight in the early days of the church.  Now, it seems they can often carry connotations such as “I was born here, so I’m a Christian,” or “I’m not any other religion, so I’m a Christian” or “I go to church, so I’m a Christian” or “I believe that Jesus lived.” Or “I walked the aisle when I was 10.”

In Greek, the language of the early church, the word means learner or follower.  The person has been saved – cleansed by the blood of Jesus and given His righteousness. Then, by the power of the Holy Spirit in him, he learns Christ, obeys his teachings, and imitates His life. His own life is changed to be increasingly like the Lord he trusts and obeys, the One he follows.

These are the kind of people we are to be and to “make.”  We ourselves learn and we help another to learn in the same ways.  This is following Christ. 

To help us do a self-checkup, and avoid tagging behind others instead of following Jesus, see “Can I See Who’s in Front? – Follow Close.”  I’ll give you a little time to read it.  Then we’ll examine the traits Jesus described for his disciples. 

What do you call yourself in relation to Christ?