Command 49 : Make Disciples | Day 337

Go and Make Disciples!

His father did not follow the Lord, but his mother and grandmother were women of faith. He was young, timid, and had frequent stomach ailments. His natural abilities did not suggest that he would make a dynamic and influential church leader. However, that is exactly what Timothy became. Timothy responded to the Gospel through Paul's preaching. Then Paul discipled him in the ways of the Lord as commanded in the Great Commission:

Command Forty-Nine: “Go ye therefore, and teach [disciple] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:19-20).

The command to make disciples is a charge to do one of the greatest works for which we were created! Through His Son, God blessed all families of the earth with the free gift of salvation. (See Galatians 3:2-15.) By sharing Christ with others and discipling them, we cooperate with God's strategy of distributing that blessing.

As we obey Christ's command to make disciples, we will discover that many of our own basic needs will be met in the process, including:

1. The need to know God: Jesus said: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest [reveal] myself to him” (John 14:21).

2. The need to be special to others: Paul revealed how special he was to his disciples when he wrote: “... If it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me” (Galatians 4:15).

3. The need to share our hearts: Speaking to his disciples, Paul wrote: “As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children, that ye would walk worthy of God ...” (I Thessalonians 2:11-12).

4. The need to be understood: As disciples mature, they will reach deeper levels of understanding in the things of God that we share with them. “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14).

5. The need to do something significant: Jesus told His disciples: “... He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).

6. The need to do something that lasts: Jesus said: “... I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain ...” (John 15:16).

7. The need to receive recognition: In anticipation of having his works recognized by Christ, Paul said of his disciples: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?" (I Thessalonians 2:19).

When we try to fulfill our basic needs in our own ways rather than God's way, we will experience disappointment and frustration.

The potential of discipleship is enormous. If you make 10 disciples a year and each one of them does the same, the whole world could be discipled in less than 10 years! Let's recognize the urgent need to disciple all nations and dedicate our lives to this task!