Teaching to Obey

Scripture:

Matthew 28:20 "Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this; I am with you always, even to the end of the age".

Observation:

When Jesus is ready to ascend into heaven to be seated at the right hand of power, He leaves this message to His disciples.  He tells them to go into all the world making disciples of all nations.  In all my years of quoting this verse, it has never really hit me as hard as it has today.  When I think of discipleship and making disciples, I usually think of a class setting or a small group setting where we are imparting knowledge to people about the bible.  Here, the focus is not on getting them information, but on giving them life change.  "Teaching to Obey" rather than just teaching information.

Application:

Teaching is different than teaching to obey.  Teaching is the imparting of information to a student.  Teaching to obey is teaching life change.  It is causing people who are walking in disobedience to begin to obey Him.  Our teaching must cause people to want to "obey" the commands of Jesus and not just give them information.

Prayer:

Father, teach me to teach right and to teach so that people will "obey" your commands.  Empower my teaching to cause a reaction of obedience to your commands.  Help me to bring about true life change in the hearts of people.

Yours,
Jeff