Why do you follow Jesus?

Matthew 28
16 Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

I am currently thinking, researching, brainstorming, or whatever you want to call it about this idea of why I follow Jesus. The pastor that I'm working for this year is having me speak on this in about a month. It's a really good question. It's something that I've thought of a lot too. 

I think I've also written about this before, but I haven't always been a Christian as in I haven't always followed Christ. Sure, I've grown up in the faith. I have a really rich heritage of faith, and for that I will always be grateful. But my relationship with Christ was sort of forced. 

I never was one of those kids that got punished with Bible verses. You know, those ones that had to read all of Jeremiah because they used a swear word, so I guess that's something that I'm appreciative of. 

Church was just something I did. Church was just some place that I had to go to because mom and dad had meetings and because my dad was the pastor...I never once really thought that church was the place where God was. Sure, I had heard that before. Sure, I had read that the church was historically the intersection of heaven and earth. Yeah, I had been taught that God wants our worship, and the church was the place for that. 

I simply hadn't really internalized and believed that the church was the place for me to encounter God. 

It wasn't until I had received the call from God to "do the church" that I went to church to meet with God. 

When this call happened, when I finally believed in God, and when I finally moved from the faith into my faith, I experienced something that is extremely difficult to put into words. I felt the presence of God. I felt the love of God. I felt that Jesus loved me. And I finally believed it, too. 

Sure, we sing songs about "Jesus loves me this I know", but how many of us actually believe that? 

I didn't.

I just couldn't fathom nor believe in the love of Jesus for me. Why would Jesus love me? I'm not that smart. I'm not that good looking. I'm not the captain of the football team. I'm just some dude. Why and how could Jesus love me? 

Because God is love.

Why do I follow Jesus? 

Because Jesus has shown me what true love is. Because God made the first move. Because God initiated. Because God first loved me. 

I follow Jesus because Jesus is with me. And no matter how bad this world gets, how broken I get, how upset I get, how beaten, crushed, and defeated I can become, Jesus is my Immanuel. Jesus propels and pushes me into relationship with Him. I wouldn't be able to love Jesus if it weren't for Jesus. 

It's God's mercy that leads me to repentance. It's God's love that changes me into someone who's all in for the Kingdom of God. It's God who does the work in me. Not my own strength. Not my own abilities because I'm definitely not going to become any more athletic, smart, or attractive. No, I follow Jesus because Jesus taught me how to follow Jesus. That might sound circular, but I really don't care. 

I follow Jesus only because the Holy Spirit leads me to Jesus who leads me to God who leads me to the Holy Spirit who leads me to God who leads me to Jesus. I can't figure it out. I won't try to. God is higher than my ways. I just know that Jesus is with me wherever I go, and for now, that is good enough for me. To quote Jon Foreman, "Jesus shows us a new way to be human."

Why do you follow Jesus?