Congratulations if you have made it thus far in this series of devotions! Well done!
God placed in my heart the need to prepare His people for His glorious return. That’s the main purpose for this devotional series.
My prayer and plan was that these devotions will help to shape your priorities, get you started on a daily process of spending time with God and self-examination, and remind you of the great prize awaiting you when Jesus returns.
However, I have deliberately kept making these devotions in its most concrete application.
Now is the time to return to 2 Tim 2:1–2, the verses which set the context of the triple imageries of soldier, athlete, and farmer. Paul writes, “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.”
Our primary purpose as Christians, then, is to make disciples who in turn make disciples. That is where we ought to prioritize our work as Christians. Making disciples has always been a major part of God’s plans – Jesus demonstrated that supremely. The process of discipleship is arduous for both the discipler and the disciple, and requires much humility and persistence especially when one’s disciple fails. Yet there is nothing like reward of forming a disciple who can disciple others.
The circuit breaker will end soon. Let us not return to church as normal – simply maintaining worship services, busy running programs and events, or even merely housing the homeless. No, let us make discipleship our top priority. The beautiful thing is that we do not require a church building to make disciples. The other beautiful thing is that we already have a process of making disciples as Methodists – teaching all Methodists to follow the Three General Rules and be held accountable in class meetings (cell groups). Finally, while faith cannot be measured, the disciples we have produced can be.
Do you see? Disciple-making is how we ultimately “pastor the city” and “spread scriptural holiness across the land.”
Questions for Reflection:
When Jesus returns, how many disciple-makers and disciples can you say you have discipled faithfully?