When Jesus was choosing His disciples, He went to them and told them to follow Him. He initiated the relationship with them. He is the one who sought them out on His own to make them disciples. If Jesus chose His disciples this way, why would we think He would do anything different with us today?
“You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” – John 15:16
We need to remind ourselves every day that we didn’t choose Him, but Jesus chose us. He is the one who has appointed us to bear fruit and abide in Him, and in doing so, whatever we ask in His name, God will do. We will ask (pray) things in Jesus’ name only when we are truly abiding in Him and God will do it because it brings God glory.
Sometimes we think this means we have a free pass as a Christian to pray about whatever we want and God will do it because we said “in Jesus’ name”, but that’s not how it works. I know I’m guilty of this, but can you imagine how often we pray and it’s just for ourselves? Prayer is not even for us. Prayer is for the glory of God. Everything we do is for the glory of God (Colossians 3:17). So when we are truly abiding in Christ, we will ask things in Jesus’ name that will really bring God all the glory, and He will do it.
Remember It’s Not About You
There’s great danger when we fall into the trap of thinking that life is all about us. Even as followers of Christ, we are guilty of thinking we need to do more, we need to get better at something, we need to improve in this area, we need to follow Jesus better, etc. It’s not about what we need to do, but about what’s already been done.
As Jesus has appointed us to bear fruit, it’s not fruit for us or for our endeavors, but rather it’s fruit that He is being intentional about to expand His Kingdom and bring Him glory…and we get the privilege to be along for the ride and to be used by Him in any of this. That’s ridiculously good news!
Remember It’s All About Him
Here’s the incredible thought…when we realize it’s all about Christ at the end of the day, we are free! We are free to serve Him without condemnation. We are free to serve Him without worrying if we are every doing good enough or trying hard enough. We find freedom in the fact that the price has already been paid for us, once and for all (Romans 6:10), and we can move forward being a part of His Church, being the most joyful people, and seeking to bring Him the most glory.
Do you believe this today? When is the last time you thought you needed to try harder? Do more? Follow Jesus better?
Live in the freedom that Christ has provided for you today knowing that on your best day or on your worst day, you need Jesus just the same and that He has chosen you.
It’s not about what we need to do, but about what Jesus has already done.
Good article, why does the homepage contradict?:
We…choose to follow Him for the rest of our lives.
Hey Kyle! Thanks so much for reading and for sharing. It sounds like they contradict but they don’t. Reason being the point of this post is that to show that Jesus is the initiator and God brings us into a relationship with Him. We of course still have free will and make to make decisions. It’s not like we are puppets with God pulling the strings. He loves us enough to give us choices to make. But the point is on this post is that many will make everything about them, vs everything truly being about God is loves us… Read more »
Thanks for responding Mike. I appreciate you taking the time to read and reply! Thank you for the clarification and sharing the Gospel!
God Bless!
Absolutely! Anytime!!