1And God spoke all these words: 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before me. (Exodus 20:1 – 3, New international Version)
10I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. (Philippians 3:10 – 11, New International Version)
Theme: Discipleship
Context:
We have spent the last 4 weeks absorbing the importance of discipleship and discussing how Bible study and prayer enable our discipleship walk with Jesus. This week, we will dig deeper into the theme of discipleship by extracting some lessons from God’s shepherding of the Children of Israel. Some of the key challenges we currently face as disciples of Jesus are like discipleship challenges the Children of Israel faced. As we seek to put what we are learning about discipleship into practice, we can benefit from observing the experiences of the Children of Israel.
A good place to start is where God started when He issued the Ten Commandments, which would serve as a discipleship guide to the Children of Israel. God’s declaration begins with an “I am” statement that spoke of identity and warned against idolatry. As was the case for the Children of Israel, the pervasiveness of idolatry is a major problem for disciples of Jesus today. God knows that we are prone to conveniently construct gods of our own making.
Everyone follows something/someone. Our idol may not be a golden calf but it could be money, country, religious leaders, family members, politicians, celebrities, and more. As we consider the application of discipleship, clarity about who we are following is foundational, and the disciplined application of Bible study and prayer is fundamental. Our discipleship journey will go nowhere if we are not prayerfully following the Jesus of Scripture.
Bible Passages:
Our Old Testament Scripture passage reflects the opening verses of the Ten Commandments, and the New Testament passage captures the Apostle Paul’s desire to know Jesus. Please prayerfully read the passages and reflect on how important it is for disciples of Jesus to be confident they are really following Him and not an idol.
Questions:
- Why is idolatry totally inconsistent with being a disciple of Jesus?
- How are Bible study and prayer important safeguards against idolatry?
Sharing your thoughts could be a big help to someone else. Please leave a comment on the blog.