Tammuz 28
Discipleship
“A talmid [disciple] is not above his
moreh. But everyone, having been fully trained, will be like his moreh
(teacher).” (Luke 6:40
OJB, emphasis and insert mine)
When asked
concerning my religious affiliation, I most generally respond that I am a ‘disciple’
of the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth.
But what is a disciple? According to Noah Webster, a disciple is “a
learner; a scholar; one who receives instruction from another; a follower; an
adherent to the doctrines of another”[1] However, when we study the lives of the first
disciples, and the relationship that they enjoyed with Messiah Yeshua, we are
missing something. Yes, they had
one-on-one fellowship with Him; so do we, for He is in us. The difference, I
believe, is that after a period of time, they began to ‘copy-cat’ Him, as an
understudy would do the lead actor of a play.
And in reality, is that not what we also are to do?
Letting ‘our
light shine before men’ is a commandment from our Master (Mat 5:16), but whose light are we filled with, if not
our Creator’s? If we make the claim, as
I have done, to be a disciple of Messiah Yeshua, then we are to be ‘mirror
images’, if you will, of who He is, and what He represents, in the Kingdom of Elohim. Am I perfect?
No, I am not; but “I keep pursuing the goal in order to win the prize
offered by God's upward calling in the Messiah Yeshua.” (Phi 3:14 CJB).
We are to study
and learn of our Messiah Yeshua. Who is
He? He was and is a Jew, and He is returning as a Jew. Am I to become a Jew, to be a proselyte? No, I am not; however, I believe that I have
been grafted in to the tree that is
Israel (see Rom 11:16-20). Because of
this, I am to follow His example in everything, and emulate His lifestyle to
the best of my ability. The only way any
of us can achieve this is to go back to the beginning, to the same foundation
from which our Master started from, the Torah, and learn as He learned. Perhaps then we might truly begin to resemble
Messiah Yeshua that lived, and still lives …
“Show me Your ways, O יהוה; Teach me Your paths. Lead
me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the Elohim of my deliverance; On You
I wait all the day.”
(Ps 25:4-5 ISR)
©2018
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