I got Follow Me today and started reading it! I just finished the introduction and the first chapter.
I gotta say, Platt makes a lot of points that I agree with and have thought of in the past. Our culture has a bad taste for Christians because so many people claim to be Christians when they have no idea what they mean!
It's challenging though, I mean, I agree that faith and works are intertwined, hand in hand, and/or build off of one another. Our beliefs create action and action leads to a deeper love/knowledge of God & Christ which effects or beliefs, and they cycle repeats!
Now, I agree with it and have said that I agree with it, so I must allow God and others to show me my inconsistencies and change. OUCH
The Great Commission Matthew 28:18-20 NIV
'Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
The "What do you want me to do with my life?" question we've asked time and time again, waiting and praying for an answer Jesus answered quite clearly after he rose from the dead, and no it isn't an option, it is a command."THEREFORE GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEN IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND TEACHING THEM TO OBEY EVERYTHING I HAVE COMMANDED YOU."
Feel overwhelmed? Keep reading! "AND SURELY I AM WITH YOU ALWAYS TO THE VERY END OF THE AGE." We are not in this alone, and we cannot do this alone. We died to ourselves and repented of our old life (which means to turn and go the opposite direction), we do not live for ourselves once we've declared Christ as our savior, our actions have to go hand in hand. You can't have one without the other. That'd be like saying saying you were on an all meat diet and never eating meat; you'd be saying it, but not living it. Like I said earlier, it's a circle.
No where in the bible does it say pray a prayer and you are saved, but it does say in Matthew 16:24-25 NIV "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants
to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."
When it was said in John 3:16 that "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." Jesus is talking to Nicodemus and calling him to a new way of life, a new way of living, it isn't just words we say it's truth we live with our entire being.
David Platt says this on pages 23-24 "Ultimately, our reason for living changes. Possessions and position are no longer our priorities. Comfort and security are no longer our god. We now want God's glory more than we want our own lives."
CITATION and RECOMMENDED READ:
Platt, David. Follow Me: A Call to Die. a Call to Live. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House, 2013. Print.
