Jesus Calls Us to Himself

By Rick Warren

"Not everyone who calls me 'Lord, Lord' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only those who do what my Father in heaven wants them to do." Matthew 7:21 (TEV)

"Jesus calls us to a level of intimacy that can only be sustained by his constant presence in our lives."

This devotional is by Jon Walker, editor of the Daily Hope Devotionals  and author of Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer's 'The Cost of Discipleship.'

Being a disciple of Jesus doesn't mean simply agreeing with Jesus or even heading in the same general direction as Jesus. We're not called to follow Jesus in the abstract. It is not like we're negotiating a contract, where we come to an agreement in principle. Think of it like this: you can agree smoking is hazardous to your health, but it means nothing until you stop smoking.

The call of Jesus is to Christ himself. We are called into a relationship. We follow and obey the person, the only begotten son, the author and perfector of our faith.

Jesus calls us to a level of intimacy that can only be sustained by his constant presence in our lives. Discipleship without Jesus is no discipleship at all. We may not understand all that discipleship involves or all that it will cost us, but Jesus calls us to take the first step, and, through that obedience, we develop the additional faith necessary to take the next step.

His call is a command for you to comprehensively and absolutely walk away from the way you do life now so you can follow him down an exclusive path through the narrow gate that leads to the kingdom of heaven.

Jesus wants you to know him and, through that relationship, He will empower you to live an extraordinary life, full of grace and truth. He calls you to a miraculous life, one that requires edge-of-your-seat faith to follow him, where you find yourself asking in joy, "What's next, Jesus? What are you going to do through me today?"