Sermon Transcript
You ever had a mountaintop experience?
I have. I’ll show you a picture of it real quick. So we have mountaintop experiences, right. Here’s a picture of my literal mountaintop experience last year. That’s Pike’s peaks from the top of pikes peaks.
So that’s not quite the mountaintop experience that I’m talking about, though. Isn’t it beautiful? You know, I’ve been able to experience pike speak a few times in my life. Last year was really special. Every year, pretty much every year, I go out to Colorado for a minister’s retreat.
And last year, Jeremy Lawton, our youth minister, went with us, went with me, and so we were able to experience this together. And just gorgeous views, right? You’ve got this view down into the valley and kind of to the other peaks of, you know, Colorado Springs is off in the distance over to the right there. It’s just absolutely beautiful. Mountaintop experience.
But that’s not quite the mountaintop experience that I’m talking about. Right. What I’m talking about is those moments when everything seems perfect. You feel like you’re closest to God. Like he’s right there with you.
Right. And that’s the kind of mountaintop experience I’m talking about. Have you ever had that kind of mountaintop experience?
In the Bible, God often reveals himself on the mountain. On the mountaintop. It’s a great metaphor for what we experience in our lives. Mountaintop experiences are in our life and faith. They’re kind of interesting to me because I think we often expect them to happen more often than they do.
We often expect them at a frequency that may or may not be realistic. And once we’ve experienced that sort of spiritual high, we crave it. We want more of it. And we almost ironically expect those mountaintop experiences to be the things that will sustain us in our faith and in our life. But what about the valleys?
What about those tough places that we walk through? The times when God feels distant? Reality is that we will experience those, probably more often. And you can’t live forever on the mountaintop. When I was at the top of Pikes Peak, it was literally a breathtaking experience.
I mean, you’re over 14,000ft up and the air is thinned to. The oxygen is just. You’re just gasping for breath. You start getting a headache, feeling dizzy. You were not made to live at the top of Pike’s peak.
Right. It just feels like if you’ve ever experienced the peak of a 14 er or something like that, it’s almost like the world starts to spin a little bit, and we were there for like an hour or two. But you quickly realize I was not meant to live in this environment.
And so the mountaintop is a metaphor for what we go through in our life with Jesus, that even when we find ourselves in the valleys feeling far from God and struggling because of whatever circumstance we find ourselves in, that Jesus is still with us, he’s still near to us, still leading us. Every day that we wake up and choose his path over our own, that’s the same on the mountaintops as he is in the valleys. That’s something that I’ve learned throughout my life, that he’s the same God, whether you’re experiencing the spiritual highs or the lows. And if we want to truly be disciples of Jesus, we have to learn what we must do in the valleys as we walk with Jesus through them. And so we’re going to unpack that the ways in which Jesus gave us to remain strong in his presence, in his strength, through his word.
And first of all, he taught his disciples how to believe. And so we’re going to talk about how we need to believe, and we need to trust in Jesus, to take him at his word, to know that his way is good and that he is great. Secondly, Jesus taught his disciples that they need to love him and obey him. We can’t have a relationship with Jesus without loving him. And so that love leads us to obedience.
It’s foundational to our walk with Jesus. Obedience is the overflow of that love that defines a disciple of Christ. Jesus also taught his disciples to multiply this discipleship in the lives of other people and to serve them in his name. And as they do, they’ll grow in their faith. They were never alone, but instead they were called to remain in fellowship with one another and with Christ.
And so, while we will inevitably walk through the valleys of life, we never have to be alone, because we can walk with Jesus and with one another. And finally, we’ll learn how Jesus taught his disciples to remain in him, to follow and remain faithful to him throughout life’s highs and lows. Today, we’re going to explore what it means to be a follower of Jesus throughout our lives as disciples. These are not all of the things that Jesus taught his disciples that they must do, but they are foundational things. They’re patterns that we see Jesus using to teach his disciples to follow him in the gospels, which we can then rely on in our own lives.
Because we were made to follow Jesus in the gospels, we see that a disciple believes in trusts first and foremost, our walk with Jesus begins with faith. The Hebrews writer tells us that faith is the confidence in what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see. Think about that. The confidence of what we hope for and the assurance of what we do not see. Belief is at the center of faith because we don’t always see everything the way that it is.
Faith is much more than just believing that Jesus said something or did something, although that is part of it. We believe that according to the Bible, that it teaches us his word, and what it teaches us is true. And so we surrender. Then faith is surrender of our own plans. When we have faith, our own desires are submitted for the life that is in Christ.
And that’s always true of faith. But it’s especially true when we find ourselves walking through the valleys. Life. Jesus said it this way to his disciples. In Matthew 16, we read that he said, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.
When Jesus says that we have to deny ourselves, it means something. We have to unpack what this is. He’s saying that we have to give him regard over ourselves. We must regard his way, his teaching over our own path. A good way to illustrate this is with a negative.
If you think about it, when Christ was arrested and the night before he was tried and crucified, what happened with his disciples? They scattered. They ran in fear. In fact, that fulfilled prophecy in the Old Testament, that the shepherd would be struck and the sheep would scatter. And that’s exactly what happened with Jesus disciples.
We think about Peter when he was confronted with knowing Christ. And people said, well, you talk like this man. Don’t you know him? Right? Surely you know him.
And Peter says, I don’t even know him. I don’t know the guy. He denied Christ. And that’s a negative example, but it teaches us what it means to deny ourselves. It’s the same word.
It’s the same word that’s used, that when Peter denied Christ, that Jesus is telling us we must deny ourselves. Could you imagine that conversation? Somebody points back to who you used to be before Jesus. Well, what about this guy? I don’t even know that guy.
In fact, he died when I met Jesus. Right? That old self, it’s been dead because now I’m alive in Christ. Could you imagine if we thought that way about our old self, that we were willing to deny ourselves with the fervency even of Peter denying Christ, betraying him, could you imagine again, I know it’s a negative example, but I think we’re smart enough. I know we can connect these dots and learn what we must learn about ourselves, that our old self and Christ has to be put to death.
We have to deny ourselves, follow Jesus. But there’s more. Jesus says to take up your cross. That probably seems more straightforward, right? We think about, Christ went to the cross.
He went there to die for our sins. He gave up his life. So, of course, we need to give up our lives for Jesus. We already kind of said that, right? But there’s more to it.
When Jesus says to take up your cross, we should probably back up a few steps from the crucifixion itself and look at the Christ carrying the top beam of the cross through the city streets of Jerusalem. The Romans manufactured, they engineered crucifixion to be humiliating. It was a heinous way, a heinous form, humiliating form of capital punishment. And as this, the criminals who were going to be crucified were paraded through the city, and people despised them and spat upon them, and they lost all dignity as they were led to the death. And that’s what Jesus is pointing us to, the humiliation that he faced when he took up that cross and carried it through the city of Jerusalem.
And, yes, this ultimately led to Jesus death. And for us, thank you, Lord, that it led to his death, that he died for our sins, that he was the substitution in our place for our sins. He was the one that went to the cross so that we could be rescued. And we thank him daily for that. But even more so, Jesus was willing to go to the cross and face not just death, but humiliation for your sake and for mine.
Are we willing to carry our cross not only in the face of death, in the face of humiliation, even if that death means dying to ourselves? That’s what we’re called to do as followers of Jesus. At the very least, believing and trusting Jesus as a disciple means we die to ourselves and we deny ourselves, and we take on a new identity, even if we face the ridicule of the world for it. It’s a new self in Christ. And it’s with this in mind that Jesus continues talking with his disciples.
He says, for whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. He asks, what good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the son of man is going to come in his father’s glory with his angels and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Do you hear the words of Jesus here?
Jesus is saying that there is a trade, that we have a spiritual gain for our physical loss when we are in Christ, that even if we should lose our lives themselves for Christ, that we will gain the world, gain everything that we need, everything that we could have, will gain even more spiritually in Christ. Could you imagine the opposite? I mean, imagine gaining the whole world. Imagine everything physically you could ever possibly want, every pleasure, every desire met. But in the end, you don’t have Jesus.
How terrible would that be? Terrible would that be? And yet the reward for those who are in Christ far surpasses any earthly pain, suffering, or even any earthly good that we could even imagine when we are in the presence of Jesus. Notice that Jesus says when the son of man is, when he is going to come, right? Jesus doesn’t mess around here.
He’s not saying, well, you know, if I decide to come back, right? No, the son of man is going to come in his father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done. Believing and trusting in Jesus means surrender of our own plans, our own desires, especially when life is challenging. It means finding satisfaction in the glory of Christ in him alone. It means that we trust that he’s good and that he’s sovereign over both the mountaintops and the valleys.
It reminds me of the story of Joni Erickson Tada. If you joined us for GLS Global Leadership summit this last week, or if you watched online, you heard part of her story. But Joanie Erickson Tada is a christian author and speaker, and she’s, if you don’t know her story, she’s faced some of the most difficult situations that I could possibly imagine. And just in case you’re not familiar, when she was 17 years old, back in 1967, she dove headfirst into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay. But when she did so, she misjudged the shallowness of the water.
Because of that, she suffered a fracture between her fourth and fifth vertebrae in her neck, paralyzing her from the shoulders down to this day.
In her autobiography, Tony describes the two years of excruciating rehabilitation after the accident, talks about how she was angry with God, she was depressed, she faced suicidal thoughts, doubts of her faith, and that wasn’t the end of her story. Though. It was a valley, it was something that she journeyed through. And today, Joanie is one of the most prolific and inspirational christian authors and speakers and leaders in the world. Her faith and her spirit to overcome her circumstances have inspired millions facing some of life’s darkest valleys in so many ways.
Through advocating for those with disabilities all over the world, through her speaking, her writing, through her artistry, she’s shown how faith can persist in the lows of the valley when we lean into these beliefs, this trust that we have in Jesus and find satisfaction in him alone. In her book is God really in control? Which she wrote in 1987, she says this real satisfaction comes not in understanding God’s motives, but in understanding his character, in trusting in his promises, and in leaning on him and resting in him as the sovereign who knows what he is, is doing, and does all things well. What about you? Can you think of a time in your life where you needed to lean on Jesus, where you had to trust Jesus through a difficult situation?
How did he bring you through that time? I promise you, if you remember back to the ways that God has brought you through the valleys, then you will see how God is going to work again in the future. Because if he’s done it once, he’ll do it again. If he’s brought you through one struggle, he’ll bring you through others. But we have to ask ourselves and reflect on ourselves, what areas of our lives do we need to trust Jesus more fully?
One way to build that trust in God, to grow in our belief in our trust in Jesus, is to grow in our love and our obedience to goddess. The second thing a disciple does is the disciple loves and obeys. Now, we’ve used the analogy before, the relationship between a child and a parent, and I think it’s a good analogy for us to use between our relationship between us and God. The love between a child and a parent in a healthy relationship is defined by reciprocal love. They love one another.
Children know when they’re loved. They had this innate sense of it. When a parent or when someone loves them and has their best interest in mind, children know they can sense it even from a very young age. And it’s through this loving relationship that over time, trust is built. And if a child trusts their parents, they’ll heed their advice and their warnings, in a word, they’ll obey.
It’s the same way between Jesus and his disciples. In John 14, Jesus says to his disciples, if you love me, keep my commands. It’s a simple statement, isn’t it? But is it easy to keep? If you love me, keep my commands.
How many of us would? When we sin, maybe we catch ourselves giving into some temptation or into some sin, and we, how many times have we stopped and said, you know what, I just don’t love Jesus right now. Probably not most of us, and I hope you don’t like, honestly, that’s probably not how we should define this in our minds. We should probably consider saying, well, Jesus, that wasn’t very loving of me. That’s probably the better way to look at this.
Maybe when we catch ourselves in our shortcomings, we just say, God, that wasn’t very loving of me. Remember, love is something that we do just as much as it is something, maybe even more than something that we feel. There’s a saying that I learned from Ronald Ramsey back when I was studying in Bible college to become a youth pastor.
And it’s rules without relationship breeds rebellion. Rules without relationship breeds rebellion. Now, that’s. I’m not saying that every act of rebellion in our children’s life is because of a lack of love and trust. I’m not saying that that’s an oversimplification.
But in general, kids listen to people that they love, and they respond in love and trust for those that they love. For another example, we could take the emotional turmoil of parenting out of this. Right. Our parent child relationship out of this. Think about your teachers, your mentors, those that you know love you, that have your best interest in mind.
Aren’t you more likely to listen to their instruction? If you know someone has your best interest in mind, what’s best for you at the forefront of their thought, then you’re probably going to listen to what they tell you. It’s the same way with Jesus. Loving Jesus is more than just a feeling. It involves action and obedience to his teachings.
So love that leads to obedience is not a new concept, right. It’s not something that Jesus is just introducing right now to his disciples. It goes all the way back to the beginning of the Old Testament. And so when Jesus said these words, it’s interesting to know when it’s happening again. This is right before he’s about to be arrested and tried in the gospel of John.
And so Jesus is giving them a warning, and despite those warnings, he’s telling them what’s going to happen. Despite those warnings of what would happen next, it’s probable that the disciples had no context in their minds. Honestly, we wouldn’t either of what was about to happen to Jesus. There’s no way that they could have fully wrapped their minds around the trauma and the impact that the crucifixion would have on their emotions and their lives with Christ seeing their rabbi, seeing their teacher wrongfully tried and crucified. So what’s Jesus doing?
Jesus is preparing them in the same way that he’s reminding us to prepare ourselves and our hearts for whatever life may throw our way. It’s when we feel closest to Jesus in the mountaintops that we have to prepare ourselves for the valleys so that we can be steadfast there. We do that by storing up his word in our hearts, his teachings, storing them up in our hearts, his commandments in our hearts in seasons of preparation, so that they remain there in seasons of devastation. We need to prepare in the seasons of preparation by storing up God’s word in our hearts, because the seasons of devastation will come, the valleys will come. So ask, how can you better obey Jesus in your life today?
Obeying his word starts by knowing his word, storing it up in your hearts. What’s one step that you could take today, starting today, to hide his word in your heart in preparation? Perhaps the best way that I can think to do that is by studying God’s word together. We do that because a disciple multiplies and serves. We multiply discipleship in the lives of others, and we serve one another in the name of Jesus.
Being a follower or disciple of Jesus is not something that we do in isolation. We’ve all had people in our lives who we could point to that have had an impact upon us in the name of Jesus, who led us closer to Christ. But the reality is, is that as followers of Jesus, we’re not only called to be impacted to have that impact in our lives, we’re also called to make an impact in the lives of other people as well. Remember the great commission? We’ve read this before.
We’ve had these words on the screen before. And they’re words that are worth committing to our memory because they are key to our mission as followers of Jesus so that we can be obedient disciples. Jesus said to his disciples, 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, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And then he promises surely with you, always to the very end of the age.
When I think of a disciple making follower of Jesus, my mind almost always immediately goes to Doc Marion Henderson. Doc was a world War two army medic. After he served in World War Two, he went to Lincoln Bible Institute, and he studied for ministry. And after that, he went to preach in several churches in Illinois and Indiana. And after that, he became a college professor at Lincoln Bible College, Lincoln Christian College, where I attended.
That wasn’t all that Doc did. Doc served as a basketball men’s basketball coach for over 20 years. He was a Bible college president down in Florida for years. But most importantly, and most thankfully for me, he came back to Lincoln and was there toward the end of his career when I was there studying to be a pastor. And even more importantly, Doc taught two classes that impacted my life and have continued to impact my life to this day.
Life of Christ one and life of Christ two. I can tell you this, Doc was a brilliant man. I swear that man forgot more than I will ever know. He used to write Hebrew with one hand and Greek with the other hand at the same time. Just that brilliant of a preacher and teacher and professor.
But the most important thing about Doc is that he loved Jesus and he loved to teach about Jesus. And I can tell you, to this day, I can’t think of really anyone else in this world who has taught me more about the life of Jesus, encouraged us to put it into practice. And you know what? It was easy to do because you saw Doc putting it into practice in his life. What a legacy.
What a legacy to leave. And every believer, every follower of Jesus is called to make disciples. Not just pastors, not just professors, not just missionaries. Every single one of us is called to make disciples. You don’t have to be a doc to make disciples.
Even if you just in the last few weeks started following Jesus. Go find someone that’s just a few weeks behind you and teach them what you know about Jesus.
I promise you that you are more ready than you think you are to teach others about Jesus. If you know Christ, if you have the slightest bit of faith, you are more ready than you think you are to tell others about Jesus. So make a phone call. If you wait until you feel ready, you’ll probably never do it. Just right now.
You have my permission. You have the pastor’s permission. Take out your phone and text whoever. If you have somebody on your mind that the Holy Spirit’s laying on your mind, text that person right now. Pull out your phone and tell them about Jesus.
It’s that important because we’re all called to multiply and to serve. If we want to reach and teach others about Jesus, then we have to remain steadfast in him, in our own faith. It takes faithfulness and discipline to grow as a disciple. And so a disciple remains faithful and grows in Christ. In order to grow and bear fruit, a plant needs to stay connected to its root to its source of nutrients, of nourishment of life.
And likewise, we need to stay connected to our source, to our source of nourishment and life spiritually. Who is that source? Obviously, it’s Jesus. And so Jesus said to his disciples, remain in me. In John 15 four, remain in me as I also remain in you.
No branch can bear fruit by itself. It must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. How do we remain in Jesus and have him remain in us? There are two specific ways in this passage.
Later on in chapter 15 that Jesus introduces to us that he assures us that we can remain in him. First of all, in verse seven, he says, if you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. So the first way in which we remain in Christ is by having his word remain in us. Now, we already talked about storing up God’s word in our hearts, but this gives us a better glimpse, an even greater glimpse of what it means to remain in the word of Christ. It’s something that we do continually.
Every single day we wake up and store the word of God in our hearts. It’s a clearer picture of what Jesus is telling us to do, to never depart from his word, never depart from it. It should always be with us, always our source of wisdom, always our source of knowledge, always our source of consideration on how we must live our lives. That is how important the word of God is to the follower of Jesus. In other words, God’s word is the foundation that we find in the scriptures.
That’s to be fully integrated into every aspect of our lives in such a way that God is always the one speaking to us, speaking into us, and who we are always listening to in order to grow later in the chapter, in verse nine, chapter 15 of John, verse nine, Jesus says, as the father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. So another part of remaining in Jesus and Jesus remaining in us is that we remain in the love of Christ. Remember, if we love Jesus, we’ll obey his commands. But it’s not just not doing the things that Jesus tells us not to do.
There’s more to obeying the commands of Christ than just not doing the do nots. It’s also the things that we do in the name of Jesus in which we obey his commands. There are sins of commission, things that we break the law of God, and we go against the will of God. And those are sinful. Yes, but it’s equally sinful for us to not do the things which God commands us to do, to love him and to love others are at the top of that list because Jesus says those are the two greatest commandments.
It’s important that we have a personal walk with Jesus that bears fruit, and we bear that fruit by living out the word of God. Fruit that we bear is seen in our impact in the lives of other people and around in the world around us. And it includes also, yes, within us, our spiritual habits, the spiritual disciplines, the things that we do personally to grow the Lord, where God. Where we’ve created spaces where God can feed us, where we can grow closer to him and remain in his love. Our habits like prayer, studying God’s word in the scriptures together and alone.
It’s fellowship with other believers in worship. These are the things. These and other things help us stay faithful to Christ and grow in his strengthen. So ask yourself, are you committed to growing in Christ as a follower of Jesus? If so, then probably the most practical thing you can do today is just choose one spiritual habit, one spiritual discipline to consistently bring into your life, whether it’s praying, adding ten more minutes of prayer a day to your life, 15 more minutes in the word daily.
Imagine the impact that that would have in your life. But that’s not the end of it. Imagine now the impact that that will have in the lives of other people around you. Because we’re not called to do these things alone. We’re called to do them together in fellowship with one another.
So beyond just implementing these spiritual habits, share it with somebody. Share it with someone close to you who you trust, who will lovingly keep you accountable. Someone that is willing to be held accountable by you as well as you grow in your discipline and your love for God. So, to summarize, there’s four ways in which Jesus Jesus disciples can traverse life’s mountaintops and valleys. First of all, a disciple believes and trusts, a disciple loves and obeys.
Secondly, third, a disciple multiplies and serves. And finally, a disciple remains faithful and grows. When we live out the life of a disciple in the same ways in which Jesus taught his disciples to live, we will remain faithful to him no matter where we find ourselves in the throes of life. And so remaining faithful means living the life of a disciple that Jesus has taught us to live no matter where we find ourselves. And if you’re going to take anything away from today’s message, it should be this, that we remain faithful to Jesus through life’s mountaintops and valleys.
That’s what a disciple is called to do, to remain faithful to Jesus through life’s mountaintops and valleys. It’s important that we remain faithful no matter what life throws at us. It’s not only important for us, though, it’s important for every life that we will impact in the name of Jesus. Every person who will hear about Jesus, who will grow in their faith in Christ, is affected by our walk with Jesus as well. Our faithfulness to christ affects not only our own life, but our witness as well to others who need to know Jesus and be saved through the cross.
So ask yourself, where am I? Where do I find myself? Are you at the mountaintop experiencing those spiritual highs? And the presence of God seems so real to you right now. That’s fantastic.
But remember, the mountaintop doesn’t last forever. Maybe you came in here today feeling like you’re in the lowest and darkest of valleys, and you just can’t see how God is going to get you through this season in your life. What defines where you find yourself? How is God trying to shape you through what you’re going through right now? And what next step is God calling you to make, to take as a follower of Jesus on the path that he shows you?
Remember, the mountaintops don’t last forever, but neither do the valleys. And God is the same in both places. He doesn’t change. God is the same on the mountaintops as he is in the valleys. I’m reminded of the example of the apostle Paul, who was a disciple for Jesus and knew the impact that he should make in the lives of others in the name of Jesus.
And Paul traveled throughout the roman world, planning churches, teaching the gospel to others so that they could be saved and making more disciples who would then go and teach others even more about Jesus. One such disciple that Paul taught was named Timothy. Paul wrote Timothy a couple times. In our Bibles, we have two letters for sure, but there are probably more times where Paul corresponded with Timothy. But in second Timothy, the second of those letters, in chapter two, Paul says this to his disciple.
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. Do you hear those words of Paul? Timothy? He says, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
It’s important to remember when Paul wrote these words. You see, Paul was in prison, most likely facing his own death. When he wrote those words to Timothy.
He was in the darkest of valleys, chained for the gospel. And Paul says, to be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus in the midst of one of the darkest valleys. That’s his word. Those are his words of encouragement. You can’t tell me that Paul wasn’t tempted to give up or to give in.
And yet he remained faithful. And he encouraged Timothy to do the same, to also remain faithful. And in doing so, Paul connects Timothy to the strength that is found in Jesus, Jesus Christ alone, the ability to make more disciples of Jesus by teaching others, who would then go and teach others as well. Later in chapter three of two, Timothy, Paul tells him to continue in what you have learned and to become convinced of because you know those from whom you learned it. Imagine that you’re receiving that letter from the apostle Paul.
Imagine he’s encouraging you to build up your faith, your belief, your trust in Jesus. What words would he write you in the middle of the valley that you’re going through right now? What sure thing would he remind you of in order to build that trust? How would he challenge you to deepen your love for Christ? By deepening your obedience to Christ, humbly obeying the teachings of Jesus.
Who would he call you to serve and to tell about Jesus, to multiply in discipleship so that they could experience the grace and the peace and the strength that’s found in Jesus Christ as well through the gospel? Where would he tell you to remain faithful and bear fruit and grow in Christ, the source of our nourishment in life? It’s important that we remember these words of Paul because we could find strength in Jesus in the mountaintop and in the valley. So, as we conclude our time together, I want to ask you to bow your heads. Prayer.
Consider silent. In silent prayer, ask God in this moment for strength, for faithfulness and growth. As you follow Jesus through all of life’s seasons, and as you reflect on how God is going to accomplish these things, remember, he’s the same at the mountaintops as he is in the valleys. He’s with you, and he’s calling you to follow him because you were made to follow Jesus.