why do you follow jesus

Ever asked yourself this question!! Why do you follow Jesus? It's interesting to note that most people will give you different answers, though in reality the answer is only one. 

John 1:50 - Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,' do you believe?

John 2:23-24 - Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men,

John 6:26 - Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.

Why do you follow Jesus? Is it because He did a miracle in your life? Is it because you saw someone getting healed miraculously? Is it because your prayers got answered when you were desperate for it? Is it because of the many signs you saw which led you to believe that this Jesus is probably real? Here’s a good one….Is it because you have seen that most professing Christians are somewhat good, kind, don’t swear and mostly helpful? Is it because you find friends in church and you sort of love the music and the band? What is the most forceful motivator that causes you to believe in Jesus? 

Yes, signs, miracles, healings and answers to prayers do cause unbelievers to draw near and examine the reality of the gospel message we preach, but our faith in Him shouldn’t be as shallow as that.  Friends, faith in Jesus our Lord ought not to be for any of the above reasons.  Have you come to a realization of how sin has affected mankind and us? We are sinful people. We think and do sinful stuff..…by nature!!. The bible says that our hearts are desperately wicked  by nature. We don’t even have to make an effort to be sinful. It’s in our nature to be sinful. Yes, most of us probably don't murder, rape, and commit adulterous acts. But we are proud, greedy, envious, angry, unbelieving, trusting in our self efforts, get lustful thoughts, evil desires that are purely for self gratification and the list goes on. 

The bible says “Everyone has fallen short of the glory of the God. There is not one righteous. Not even one”.

Have you ever felt convicted of something in your life and tried to stop it and found you couldn’t? Perhaps an addiction maybe.  You found it to be a struggle, sometimes a seemingly unending struggle? That’s because of our sinful nature. Our sinful nature wars against our new born again self. We have a genuine desire to live a pure and holy life pleasing  God, but our sinful nature prevents us from doing what we will to do. Sometimes it is also because of the evil forces of darkness that have had control over us for very many years.

We need to realize that we desperately NEED a savior. Without this realization, we’ll find ourselves following Jesus for either one or all of the above mentioned reasons.  And when we pray, we feel like we deserve answers to our prayers, we feel like we deserve the blessings of God, we feel like we’re doing everything right and God HAS to bless us.  That somewhat sums up much of todays “Name it, Claim it” gospel message isn't it? 

The truth is we don’t deserve anything from God. The only thing we deserve is His justice. He doesn’t have to answer any of our prayers. He doesn’t have to work miracles for us. He doesn’t have to consistently entertain us to keep us interested in Him. Yet in His abundant grace and mercy, He does love us, care for us and provide for our needs. 

I encourage you to read Isaiah 6:1-5 and get an understanding of how HOLY God is.

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: 

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”

And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. So I said:

“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The LORD of hosts.”

Now compare yourselves to Him. Think about Him for a couple of minutes. Visualize yourself approaching such a God seated on His throne in prayer. How do you feel? Proud? Bold? Confident? I didn't think so…Even the angels in heaven who are holy and always in His presence had to cover their face. We see in the book of revelation when John saw Him in a vision, he fell down as though dead.

The bible says “No man has ever seen the face of God”. He lives in unapproachable light.

Yet in His abundant mercy and love;  because of His son Jesus' sacrifice for us, He tore the veil that separated us sinful men from His Holy presence and made the way clear for us to enter into His presence. In the book of Hebrews, we are reminded to approach this throne of grace with boldness and with confidence (Hebrews 4:16). That’s because we normally cannot be confident and bold to approach His throne.  We can only approach His throne with confidence and boldness because of our faith in what our Lord Jesus has done for us.

Let’s not water down the significance of what Jesus Christ has done for us or who He actually is. He is God, the creator and the very same person we see in Isaiah 6 seated on the throne, living in unapproachable light. The very reason the whole bible story happened is because of "SIN". Jesus came to destroy the power of sin in our lives so that we can once again be reconciled to Him, without sin. He did not come to solve our problems in life and give us a more prosperous and healthy life. He came to save us from SIN. 

When we don’t realize our sinfulness in comparison to His Holiness, His magnificence and splendor, we tend to casually approach Him in prayer with an attitude of “our right” to get whatever we ask for. I thank God for his love because the bible says “He chastises those whom He loves”. If I get chastised, it’s evidence that I’m in His good books. Praise God!!

So I encourage you, let your faith not be shallow based on signs, healings and miracles. Let your faith not be based on anything that Jesus can give you. Let it be based on the fact that you need a savior and He is that savior. Rejoice in the fact that you are saved. Be glad and content with the fact that you now belong to God and are reconciled to Him. You now have eternal life. You now have God on your side. He has promised never to leave you nor forsake you. Rejoice and seek after intimacy with Him.

Remember Jesus said “Don’t rejoice because the demons are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. Jesus was glad that He gets to be with us, but we seem to be glad because of the power and miracles we get to see.  That ought not to be. We need to rejoice because we get to know Him and be with Him and enjoy an intimate relationship with Him.

There’s so much more I want to say, but I will end here with this encouragement.  No amount of miracles, healings, signs, wonders and financial blessings can replace the satisfaction you get in simple intimacy with Jesus. Signs and wonders will follow those that believe…..not run ahead of those that believe.

So why do you follow Jesus?