TAMMUZ
28
Discipleship
“A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone
who is fully trained will be like his teacher.” (Luke 6:40 TLV)
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 disciples 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 do not believe it is necessary; however, I maintain that I am grafted into 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 the Messiah 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, emphasis mine)
©2021
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