It can be a great struggle to find role models that we can aspire to be like. Athletes, Politicians & even religious leaders disappoint us & they seem to fall far short of the values they espouse. It can be very discouraging. But, Jesus never disappoints us, He was and is the perfect role model for us to follow.
That’s why we ask ourselves the questions “WWJD, what would Jesus do?”
- He never made a mistake.
- He always knew what was the right thing to do.
- He obeyed His Father, no matter what the cost was to Himself.
We can learn much from Jesus’ life and how he conducted His ministry. Jesus’ objective was to reach the world with the message of redemption that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. Jesus knew that His three-year ministry was only the beginning of reaching His goal of giving every person the opportunity to hear the Good news.
Jesus’ method is people, His Church.
- Jesus knew he only had a short time on the earth and that His followers would need to carry-on after He went to be with the Father.
- Jesus bet the farm on an unlikely group of men, to carry on the work He began.
- For almost 2,000 years that work continues on through the likes of you and me.
Jesus Plan = Multiplication.
The Power of Multiplication can be seen on a wall in the Museum of Natural Science in Chicago where there is a checkerboard with 64 squares. In the lower left hand corner is a grain of wheat. The display includes this question: “If you doubled the amount of wheat as you move from square to square, how much would you have when you reached the 64th square? A carload? A trainload? The answer is that you would have enough wheat to cover the country of India six feet deep.” That is the power of multiplication!
This is Jesus’ strategy for the world, each one reach one. I reach someone who then reaches someone, who reaches someone, who reaches someone, etc., etc. The Apostle Paul talks about this in II Timothy 2:2 which says, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.”
Suppose you go out and reach one person for Jesus. Stick with that person for six months. Help, encourage and strengthen him. At the end of six months there are only two. At the end of the year there are four of you. At the end of 18 months there are eight; two years, 16. Do you know how many people there would be at the end of 17 years? More than the entire population of the world-more than six billion.
Jesus’ Challenge
In 1927, in West Africa, a blood specimen was taken from a native man named Asibi, who was sick with yellow fever. A vaccine was made from the original strain of virus obtained from this man. In fact, all the vaccine manufactured since 1927 by the Rockefeller Foundation and health agencies derives from the original strain of virus obtained from this one man. Carried down to the present day from one laboratory to another, through repeated cultures and by enormous multiplication, it has offered immunity to yellow fever to millions of people in many countries. Through the creative imagination of science, the blood of this one man in West Africa has been made available to serve the whole human race.
In another, more important way, the blood of another Man has been made to serve the human race. Quote: Ephesians 1:7. “IN CHRIST WE HAVE REDEMPTION THROUGH HIS BLOOD…” Jesus challenges us today to go viral with the message of the Gospel and teach someone who will teach another.