Come and go. Words that signify action. Words that are very much connected to the Christian faith. Christianity is an active faith. We come to Jesus and we go into the world, spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ and making disciples throughout the world. That is our mission, it’s what we are called to do (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:19). Besides “come” and “go,” there are many other words that point to the activity of the walk of faith. But let’s start at the beginning.
The walk of faith begins with hearing about Jesus. We may have heard about Jesus through a friend, or through family, or perhaps even through a total stranger. Jesus’ first two disciples heard about Jesus when John the Baptist pointed Jesus out to them and called Him the Lamb of God (John 1:35-36). Simon Peter heard about Jesus through his brother, Andrew, who was one of those two disciples (John 1:40-42). Jesus Himself found Philip in Galilee. As a result, Nathanael heard about Jesus through Philip (John 1:43-45). When the power of the Holy Spirit filled the disciples in the early church, they were emboldened to preach the Good News, and many others heard about Jesus.
The walk of faith continues with coming to Jesus and learning more about Him. When the first two disciples heard about Jesus from John, they asked Jesus where He was staying. Jesus told them to come and see (John 1:38-39). After hearing about Jesus from Philip, Nathanael wondered how anything good could come out of Nazareth. Philip told Nathanael to come and see (John 1:46). As these new disciples heard about Jesus, their first step in the walk of faith was to come to Jesus in order to learn more about Him. In the walk of faith, our first step after hearing about Jesus was to learn more about Him. So we came to Jesus, reading the Bible in order to learn more about who He is.
Our next step in the walk of faith was following Jesus. As new believers, we made a decision to follow Jesus because we believed He is who the Bible says He is. Scripture tells us that faith comes through hearing and hearing comes through the Good News about Jesus (Romans 10:17). And when we came to faith in Jesus, when we came to believe that He is the Son of God, that He came to die for our sins, our response was to follow Him. As we follow Jesus, as we continue taking steps in our walk of faith, we strive to become more and more like Him. And, as we become more and more like Him, through the power of His Holy Spirit who dwells in us, our response should be to tell others about Him. And that brings us full circle as we go into the world sharing the Good News and making disciples throughout the world.
A Worshiper's Journal 