Page 5 - Called to A Follower template

In Jesus’ day, every child under the age of twelve would have attended a Beth
WRITE YOUR PERSONAL THOUGHTS ON THESE QUESTIONS Torah School. Students would learn to read and write using the Torah (First 5
books of the Bible) at six years old, and by the age of 10, they had to the rest of
the old testament memorized. Memorizing that much may seem like an impossi-
ble task, but many of us can memorize the lyrics to every Disney movie, sports
Based on these bible passages, how does it make you feel that Jesus has statistics or recipes, and passwords for all our social media accounts. It wasn’t
bestowed upon you the rank of Master? all only memorization for the sake of memorization, it was more profound than
that. You had to understand each verse; you needed to live it, breathe it, make
it a whole part of you. Young people in ancient Israel longed to hear these two
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words from an influential Rabbi: “Lech Acharai—I believe that you have the
______________________________________________________________ right stuff to be like me.”
______________________________________________________________ Sadly, most students never heard those words. More of then than not, they
______________________________________________________________ would listen to these words: “My child, you know the Torah, and you know it
well, but you don’t have what it takes to carry my Yoke. Go home and learn
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your father’s trade. Have many children and pray that one of them may become
a Rabbi.” Can you imagine how heartbreaking it must have been for them to

hear that? With a few sentences, your whole purpose for being had evaporated.
To spend most of your life working towards one goal, and then being told you
How do we prepare to make disciples of the people we know?
were not good enough. The shame they must have felt going back home to say
to their families that they were not going back to school the next day.
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But Jesus, found his disciples differently, entirely against cultural norms. In-
______________________________________________________________ stead of waiting for the elite to come to him, Jesus went to the rejects and
______________________________________________________________ handpicked them. For example, His disciplines Andrew and John were teenag-
ers when they met Jesus, and were learning with John the Baptist as Talmidim
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(students of the Torah). James was already learning his Father’s trade since we
______________________________________________________________ find him fishing with his father and Peter, well, Peter had been rejected a long
time ago because he already owned several boats had a house and was married.
Yet Jesus did something amazing! He called them, and Most importantly, He
believed in each of them. Hearing a Rabbi like Jesus say “Lech Acharai: Come
How does it make you feel, knowing that Jesus will always be by your follow Me” would have been elating to the disciples. They received a second
side as your Master? chance. Jesus had restored their purpose.
So what does that have to do with being a follower of God? Well, you must un-
______________________________________________________________ derstand the importance of Jesus calling you. It was no mere coincidence that
______________________________________________________________ you began believing in Him. He actively sought you out. Because He did so, He
must see in you the great potential to be like Him in everything that you do.
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Even if you are in a season where you have lost your purpose, know that Jesus
______________________________________________________________ can restore it and also give you a greater purpose. No one can see the future.
______________________________________________________________ You can try and plan as best you can, but even the best of plans will fail. God
wants you to trust in Him because He alone knows your best future. If your
plans fall apart, His plan will never fail you. He wants you to believe in Him, and
more importantly, for you to know that He believes in you.