“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” – Matthew 28:16-20
As I read The Great Commission passage again, two things that had never caught my attention popped out at me.
First, “they went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.”
Second, “When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.”
First, they obeyed. But second, some doubted.
When we consider The Great Commission, we are sometimes intimidated by the “meat” of the passage. By the “meat,” I mean the command to “go and make disciples of ALL nations…” When reading that and truly considering what Jesus asks of us, our initial thought may be,
“What?! Go EVERYWHERE and make disciples?! I am NOT a preacher!”
Well, that is true. And, that is also false. Most of us are not preachers by profession, but our lives either preach the word, or they don’t.
You see, Satan will plant doubt (as he did for a few of those disciples) in us to keep us from living for Christ, and to keep us from making disciples for Christ. Even in our obedience, the devil will try his best to create doubt and reluctance. We must not let that happen!
At the end of this passage, we find all the strength we need to fulfill that Great Commission. “And surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus is right there with us, wherever we go, whoever we meet, whatever He gives us to say or do. We must claim that, and cling to Him if we are to fulfill this Great Commission that He gave to those disciples long ago, and to us today.
Do not delay.
Go. Make disciples.
Remember, Jesus is with us every step of the way!
Glenae
P.S. Discipling Teenage Girls
Mandy’s sister, Kandy Chimento created a discipleship program for her youth when her husband was a youth pastor. She wrote about it here.
Titus 2 Women
The Bible admonishes us to come alongside the women younger than us. Most of them are looking for someone to lead them. Why not you? Also, check out Mandy’s review of Nancy DeMoss Wolgmuth’s book, Adorned, Living Out the Beauty of the Gospel Together
or Sue McDonald’s book Table Mentoring, a Simple Guide for Coming Alongside. Mandy’s review is here.
Glenae Atchison is a native of Indiana, and a long time resident of Mississippi. She graduated from Asbury College in 1983 with a BS in Music Education. She and her husband, Skip have been married for over thirty years. They have two married children and three grandchildren. Glenae is active in choir, two group Bible studies, United Methodist Women, and is a certified lay servant in the United Methodist Church. Her favorite activities include singing and playing the piano, sewing, quilting, and making Swedish weave blankets.
Sadly, I have never given much thought to that verse. I have often felt as if being a mother and teaching my children the Bible is a way of making disciples.
I would say that our family is the very first place to make disciples. We would not want to go out to make disciples having not taught our children. Sadly, this happens a lot in pastoral families.
Also, while you are raising your children, you are busy with them and that will be your concentration, not that you won’t share with anyone else, but that is your main focus.
Thanks for dropping by.
It’s amazing how we can overlook such a clear message! I hope that my life and the mentoring I do fulfills this mandate.
I think many of are fulfilling the Great Commission without even realizing it. Like Glenae says just by our lives alone. Mentoring is one of the best ways to do so, in my book!