Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost."
Watch Week Four Day Two
For the next two days, we will look at how Jesus lived a faithful life and how He prepared His disciples to faithfully go and make disciples of all nations.
In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Jesus came to accomplish His Father’s will and redeem the world. How was He able to stay faithful? Let us learn from His faithfulness as we strive to be faithful to our call of making disciples.
Hebrews 12:1–2 says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
We are to run with endurance the race that is set before us, and we do this by looking to Jesus, who endured the cross and faithfully provided salvation to those who believe (Romans 10:9). Why did He do this? For the joy that was set before Him. The joy of accomplishing His Father’s will and restoring man’s relationship with God. In the midst of Jesus’ suffering, He had perspective. He was able to see the big picture—that His sufferings would lead to redemption. This perspective, this joy, this hope helped Him to be faithful.
The apostle Paul, who committed his life to making disciples, also had a big-picture perspective. In Acts 20:24 he said, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Despite all the trials Paul faced, his focus was on the end result—finishing his ministry of testifying to the gospel.
As we strive to faithfully make disciples, may we have the same perspective as Jesus and Paul. When we face challenges, when we get tired, may we remember what joy it is to share Christ’s love with others—to watch His mercy, grace, and redemption bring hope to the hopeless and save the lost.
Oh, God, help us to see others the way You see them. Give us Your view, Your perspective. Help us to persevere when we face challenges in making disciples. May we understand the eternal weight of each soul and faithfully make disciples.
How do Jesus' and Paul’s examples inspire you to faithfully make disciples?
Comments (1)
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Keeping the big picture in mind, having the right perspective, drives me to continue on. To engage in kingdom work by making disciples. Perspective is HUGE! When we lose perspective we start looking at ourselves, and become more self focused. That is when we become weary and discouraged.
At the beginning of the video a comment was made that Jesus probably felt like a failure when all of his disciples scattered, I disagree with that statement. Because of this eternal perspective and the course is set before us I believe Jesus very well knew that would happen and did not see it as failure but as part of the plan.
We need to be prepared for that to. Do the work God has set before us, plant seeds, water and/or harvest.