![\"Dice](\"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Dice-Jesus.png\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nI was recently asked a few questions about what it means to follow Jesus. I spent several days mulling over my response. This is what I came up with\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you say to spend a lot of time trying to know Jesus, what does that mean to you personally?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n The first, and perhaps most important, thing knowing Jesus means to me is that I BELIEVE. I truly believe Jesus is who he said he was\u2014the son of God. And then, I believe all the craziness behind the story of Jesus, ya know, that bad-B movie storyline we Christians call the Gospel story. It entails a virgin birth, a sinless life, a criminal\u2019s death, a resurrection (ahhh zombies!) and an ascension back into heaven. And I believe every word. So, when I say I know Jesus, it first means I believe in Jesus as the resurrected Son of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of Christians kinda stop there. They say this is the key to what they call \u201cbeing saved.\u201d These Christians want you to repeat a prayer saying you believe all this stuff and ask for forgiveness of all your sins. Then they say you\u2019ve punched your ticket into heaven. But I\u2019m not sure I buy it, exactly. I think once you truly begin to believe, there\u2019s a process of knowing Jesus that must continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So why do I need to know him more?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n Two words: Abundant Life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many play on people\u2019s fear of the unknown by saying that if you die and don\u2019t follow or believe in Jesus, you\u2019ll go to hell. While playing on such fears is an effective method to get a response, I think there\u2019s a much better answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe Jesus offers abundant life, eternally yes, but also right now. I can honestly say my life is FANTASTIC! Not because everything\u2019s perfect, or because I\u2019m super lucky, or because I\u2019m ridiculously good looking, or because Duckbilled Platypuses do actually exist, or because my kids are perfect (b\/c none of those things are true, except the platypus part, for which we\u2019re all grateful) but it\u2019s fantastic because I follow Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My life isn\u2019t perfect by any means. My dad died when I was 26 from cancer. My son has a seizure disorder and he takes medicine twice a day. And we\u2019ve been digging ourselves out of our Godzilla-sized medical debt for years now. So following Jesus doesn\u2019t mean my life is perfect. But it means I can have peace even in the midst of imperfection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When bad things happen, my faith is my shield and shelter. I trust God\u2019s plan. I trust he knows what he\u2019s doing even when I have no freakin’ clue. This faith and trust become a shelter in the midst of life\u2019s storms. Jesus gives me peace, and therefore I can have an awesome life even when life isn\u2019t so awesome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And what should I do with it once I know it?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I believe in Jesus, but what am I doing to make that belief a reality? For instance, if I say my wife is the best cook in the world, but I refuse to ever eat her food, do I truly believe what I claim to believe? Simple analogy, but it works for me. So I say Jesus is the resurrected Son of God, but what am I doing to prove it? This is where the Bible comes in for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the Bible, Jesus called certain people (the twelve Disciples) to be an everyday part of his life. When he called these people, he always said the same two words, \u201cFOLLOW ME.\u201d These twelve disciples had to leave their normal, everyday monotony and become a part of Jesus\u2019 life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So when I say I\u2019m a disciple of Jesus, these two words, \u201cFollow Me\u201d, encompass my entire identity. I am a follower<\/i> of Jesus. It\u2019s not just a simple prayer. It\u2019s not merely a belief. It\u2019s an everyday responsibility that leads me to know Jesus and to know more about Jesus. My belief leads me to action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For me, the Bible is where I find all I know about Jesus and God (well, I guess I\u2019ve learned some from simple experience, as well). It\u2019s where I can read what Jesus taught, how Jesus lived, and who Jesus was\/is. There I can find and gain some understanding into what it means to truly be a follower of Jesus, i.e., a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But that\u2019s not all\u2014the Bible certainly helps me know Jesus, but the best part of the whole thing is, I don\u2019t just read Jesus\u2019 words spoken thousands of years ago, but I can talk to him even now. Since I believe he is actually living, and since I believe he also created the world (and me), I spend time in prayer, talking to Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I tell him all my needs and let him know that I really, really want to be better than I am right now. I spend time asking for forgiveness for the moments I\u2019ve acted selfishly and out of line with his purpose for my life. I pray for my friends who are hurting or in need. I spend time asking my questions and letting Jesus know that I\u2019m listening if he ever wants to speak.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It hasn\u2019t happened all that much, but I can honestly say I\u2019ve heard his voice a handful of times. And when I have, it\u2019s always been a life altering, unforgettable, stop-me-dead-in-my-tracks kind of moment that changes my emotions and way of thinking. I love hearing his voice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And of course, knowing Jesus means participating in all the so called spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, bible reading, worship, etc. This is what I believe separates the weak Christians from the strong ones. Those who do these things regularly are often much more unshakeable in their faith than those who don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And is there anything else I should know?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n When I say I know Jesus, it also means that I\u2019ve accepted the fact that\u2026he knows me. He knows I\u2019m a failure. He knows I\u2019m weak. He knows I\u2019m flawed. But I\u2019ve realized that he loves me anyway, in spite of my selfishness, my sins, and my pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He loves me in spite of the fact that I seem to come up short of his perfect plan so often. Although Jesus knows how ridiculously stupid I tend to be, he treats me as if I\u2019m his most beloved creation\u2026because I am. And so are you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I say I know Jesus, it means I am free\u2026free in every sense of the word. I\u2019m free mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. I\u2019m free because I\u2019ve realized a couple things: 1) I am a sinner (to the worst degree), 2) I am forgiven. This is a hugely freeing realization. I don\u2019t have to carry the weight of my past mistakes and failures. The punishment that I deserve from God was placed squarely on the shoulders of Jesus as he hung on the cross. So rather than the punishment I so clearly deserve, I receive forgiveness which I so clearly don\u2019t deserve, and what could ever be more freeing than THAT?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, before I end up writing an entire book, let me try to sum this all up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I believe I am a sinner. I believe Jesus, the Son of God, died and rose again and in so doing took the punishment I deserved on himself. And by believing this, and letting my actions continually prove my beliefs, I follow Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For this reason, I am a Christian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s what I believe, and that\u2019s what it means when I say I\u2019m a follower of Jesus. The main question for me is always, \u201cDo I want to live this crazy life without Jesus, or do I want to live it with Jesus?\u201d He\u2019s helped me through so many difficult moments, my answer is easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m rolling the dice with Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was recently asked the ultimate question: “When you say you follow Jesus, what do you mean?” I spent several days mulling over my response. This is what I came up with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3132,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3131","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/Dice-Jesus.png","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4mgFO-Ov","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3131"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3739,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3131\/revisions\/3739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3132"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/darrenschalk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}