Come, Follow, Abide

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.”  
(Matthew 11:28)

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.”  (Matthew 16:24)

“Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.”  (John 15:4)

Come

There is a clear progression laid out for every person.  At some point in life, we encounter Jesus.  In learning who He is and why He came, we must face and consider the sinful nature of our heart and make a decision.  Jesus bids us to come to Him.  By His work at the cross, He will exchange our yoke of sin for a robe of righteousness.

Follow

If we choose to accept His free gift of salvation, He commands us to follow Him.  It isn't enough to accept the gift and walk away unchanged.  By accepting His sacrifice, we acknowledge our sinfulness and through true repentance, seek to walk in a manner worthy of His calling.  Sin should become distasteful to us, and our old fleshly habits should begin to fall away as we walk in newness of life. While we are forgiven, we still battle our sin nature on a daily basis.  We may struggle with pride, selfishness, or anger (for example), but if we are truly seeking Him, and allow Him to work in our hearts and minds, He will refine us.  When Jesus bids us to come to Him, not only should we come the first time, but we should continually come to Him.  He is our high priest who can sympathize with our weakness because He too was tempted in all things, yet remained without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He understands our struggle and offers strength and rest for our weary souls.

Abide

Following Christ should progress into abiding in Him.  As we allow Him to change us from the inside out, we begin to experience His love and power in our lives, which deepens our love for Him, which solidifies our resolve to continue walking in His ways.  Abiding in Him involves obedience (following Him) and resting on His promises.  The act of abiding strengthens and deepens our faith. John 15 says that if we abide in Him, we will bear much fruit.  Spiritual fruit is outward evidence of our relationship with Christ.  The more we abide, the more abundant the fruit, which should be noticed by others, and perhaps encourage them to consider and answer His call upon their lives.

What a beautiful cycle!