Being a Disciple of Jesus Christ
By Matthew Melton
December 26, 2021
Boxing Day
After speaking a couple of weeks ago Bishop Snow reminded me of a special bond that him and I share. Him growing up in New Zealand and me serving a mission in England makes, today, the day after Christmas is another special day.
I'm sure we can all recall a time in our life where we've looked on a calendar to see the 26th day of December listed as "Boxing Day". As a youth I would see that, and wonder why Vegas, the fighting capital of the world, didn't have a boxing match scheduled on that day. Heck, maybe this talk would be better given by Patrick Mailta, a professional Heavy Weight Boxer who recently joined the Church here in our local congregation.
The real history of Boxing Day is linked to an old British tradition, where the servants of the wealthy were given the day off, since they would have had to serve their masters on Christmas Day. Not only would they get the time off, but their employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses, and sometimes leftover food. Until the late 20th century there continued to be a tradition among many in the UK to give a Christmas gift, usually cash, to vendors, or to others in need.
It was very interesting this week to learn that the United States donates to charities and others at a larger percentage than anywhere else in the world. Last year the website GoFundMe reported over $650 million was donated for covid help alone. In the ten years the site has been up, $9 billion has been given to those in need.
This year we were so excited to hear that the Giving Machine was back. My daughter, Posie, was even more excited when their youth leader, Sister Preator, arranged for them to go to this vending machine, that was setup in Downtown Summerlin. This machine allows you to purchase various items for the poor in third world countries; like groceries, school supplies, vaccines, and Posie's personal favorite; Chickens and Goats.
It really is an amazing experience to go there and to participate. Just watching everyone using the machine and giving in those in need, you can feel the Christmas Spirit and know that you truly are doing a good thing. I love that Posie came home and said, "Dad I felt really good about what we did tonight, and I love my leaders. I like helping others."
It did get me thinking that throughout the year we have some other options to help others and to become more Christ like. We can donate to the poor and use the website or app Just Serve where you can find places to serve in your community. Both are wonderful options that allow us to continue to feel that Spirit.
GPS
A few years ago, our family planned a trip to Disneyland. I was excited to go since it had been a fair bit I was able to go with my family, due to work commitments. Our trip began with a prayer for safety, then I entered our hotels address into our cars navigation. The app plotted the route and it told us it would be 3 Hrs. and 47 minutes before we arrived. The app gave us each turn and how many mile in between and talked us through the directions as we went.
Although these navigation systems are brilliant since they have made map books irrelevant, they don't consider the stop in Barstow for, potty breaks, drink refills and the purchase of bubble gum.
But on this trip, something interesting happened as we got to the bottom of the Cajon Pass. I remember there being lots of construction a few years ago but didn't think anything about it since we've been down the I-15 100's of times in our life. When I would always get down to the bottom of the pass, I would always stay in the right-hand lane to head towards Los Angles. So, like I've always done, I stayed in the right-hand lanes expecting to head to Los Angles. But instead of us going right the freeway continued straight towards Riverside. I immediately knew that something was wrong when the GPS began rerouting us to a different set of roads.
Now let's think about this. The GPS didn't abandon us or throw its hand in the air. What did it do? It recalculated a new path for us to follow, to get us back on the path to where we intended to go.
Now this rerouting required a few off ramps and some U-turns but we we're able to get back on the correct freeway headed in the right direction.
Come Follow Me
As we close out 2021 and look forward to 2022. It makes me think about how the Savior has asked us to "Come follow Me." If we choose to stay on the path he has chosen for us, he'll look after us and keep us from getting lost. But sometimes we hear those directions from the Lord, but instead of following them like I did at the bottom of Cajon Pass, we ignore Him and continue to make our own path. And just like the GPS, the Lord doesn't give up on us or throw His hands in the air. He helps us recalculate our path. Now we must deal with the different road conditions. They'll be unlike than before; they may be a lot rougher or require more time for us to get where we need to go but He will help us along the way. So many times Brothers and Sisters I feel that we listen to the directions that the Lord give us, yet choose to do what we want to do. Then when we get lost on rough paths or dark tunnel, we get upset at the Lord and ask him "Why has this happened to me?"
The crazy thing I find is that most of us choose to not listen to the guidance provided to us by the Lord and his servants. Some of us may even be on Autopilot since we've always done it this way and don't realize we need to change. I'll be honest, I was on full autopilot even as the GPS was encouraging me to be in the left lane. What about all those signs I failed to heed and reroute my course.
So now we need to look at ourselves and how we can listen to the Saviors words to "come follow Me" and become better disciples of Christ. In Matthew 4:18-22, we see Jesus calling the first disciples as they were fishing:
18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.
19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.
21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.
22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
Brothers and Sisters, I want to focus on the sentence Jesus uses here, the first part is…"Follow Me…"
Jesus approached these men with the invitation to become His disciples. I want us to think about this. How would you react if someone from out of town came up to you and said, "Drop everything and come with Me?" We may have had a different reaction back then, but we do know how these men responded. The response to the invitation was immediate.
In each of the gospels, we find that when Jesus invited these men to follow Him, they did so immediately. They did not say, "You know what, Jesus, I need to think about this a bit. I should probably go home and do an analysis of what this might do to my earning potential. Or, "you know, my mom and dad were kind of hoping I'd take over the fishing business. And I'm pretty well vested in the pension plan with the company."
No, they just left. They may have taken care of their affairs and such, but I think that when they heard the invitation from Jesus, there was no discussion. They simply went. What would move them to just up and leave like that? Why would they take Jesus up on that invitation?
These new disciples didn't leave their lives and livelihoods behind just to hang out with the popular guy in the area. They left because not only did Jesus have authority, they followed Him. His authority was rooted in who He was. They left because God had opened their hearts to what Jesus said and also to who He was. These early disciples knew that Jesus was the Messiah, and they wanted to be in His Company. These men that He called followed immediately because they knew something deep down inside them that Jesus wasn't like the others, and that He was the son of God.
The second part of his statement was: "…and I will make you fishers of men." Jesus didn't just say, "Follow Me." He said something else: Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Jesus called them to change them. He helped the disciples become people who saw others from an eternal perspective. Their lives were transformed. "Follow Me and I'll transform you. Follow Me and I'll make you into something you weren't before." "You're used to fishing for fish. I will get you ready to impact the lives of people."
Brothers and Sister, Jesus didn't just call His disciples so He could look good and say, "Hey look at the crowd gathered around me." He had a purpose in mind from the beginning. And that purpose was to work in these guys so that He could work through them later. And you know, that's what following Jesus is really all about. Allowing Him to change you from the inside out, so we can be used to bring others to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
As we start 2022 are we going to allow Jesus to transform us? Jesus invites you to follow Him so He can change you into something you weren't before – Christlike.
Think about it for a minute – none of these disciples were professional clergy. They were generally small businessmen, blue-collar types, except for maybe Matthew, and later Paul. But after three years with Jesus, they became men who would turn the world upside down, and would lose their lives for the sake of the Savior. To look at them before Jesus called them, you may never have guessed what Jesus had in mind for them. But being with Jesus transformed them.
As a member of the Lord's Church can people say this about you? When they look at you, when they see how you operate in your work, in your recreation, in your family, etc., can they tell that you have been with Jesus?
To me, this is what separates disciples of Christ from others. They decide to let their relationship with Jesus impact every area of their life, and the Holy Ghost gives them the courage to live and speak as someone who is a healthy, authentic follower of the Savior.
Like the first disciples, we follow Jesus so He can transform us into His image. And then we allow Him to work through us to impact others. I hope that's your desire, because that's my desire for you. The world is full of people who call themselves Christians but who don't really follow Christ.
Jesus said, "Follow Me – stick with Me, learn from Me. And let Me transform you into someone who reflects Me and My priorities the priorities of My kingdom. Let me make you fishers of men." Move from just being a believer to being a disciple. Move from being someone who just has his "fire insurance" into a fire fighter.
This doesn't happen automatically. You need to be focused on the guidance from your spiritual GPS that lets you know what you need to be doing and then following its directions.
Take the first step of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Being a disciple of Jesus starts with establishing a relationship with Him. So what does it mean to have a relationship with Him? James E. Faust shared with us some great words of wisdom:
First: Start with a daily communion involving prayer. A fervent, sincere prayer is a two-way communication which will do much to bring His Spirit flowing like healing water to help with the trials, hardships, aches, and pains we all face. What is the quality of our secret prayers when only He listens? As we pray, we should think of Him as being close by, full of knowledge, understanding, love, and compassion, the essence of power, and as having great expectations of each of us.
Second: A daily selfless service to another. The followers of the divine Christ have to be weighed on the scales of what their actions are rather than on solemn professions of belief. The true measure is found in Matthew: "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these …, ye have done it unto me." (Matt. 25:40) A wise man observed, "The man who lives by himself and for himself is apt to be corrupted by the company he keeps."
Third: A daily striving for an increased obedience and perfection in our lives. "What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am," said the Savior. (Matthew 5:48, 3 Ne. 27:27) Because of the perfect atonement of Jesus, just men may be made perfect. (See Colossians 1:28, D&C 76:69)
Fourth: A daily acknowledgment of His divinity. To have a daily, personal relationship with the Master, we must be His disciples. "For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?" (Mosiah 5:13, John 17:3)
Fifth: A daily study of the scriptures. President Kimball has said: "I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures, the distance narrows and the spirituality returns." ("What I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren …, " address to seminary and institute personnel, July 11, 1966.)
I testify that I love the fact that Jesus is not done transforming me to be more like Him, to know Him better and to love Him more. He's not done with you, either. But you need to get close to Him for it to happen. I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Matthew Melton is a native to Las Vegas and a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He and his wife, Jodie, have four children and is currently serving on the High Council as the Stake Young Men's President and Ward Asst. Librarian. When he is not at work he is enjoying building up his Lego "retirement" or eating at his favorite restaurant, 'Indian Palace.'