Page 8 - July 2014 Catalyst

Iam a Jesus pusher!!! For a moment I ask you to imagine going about your normal day. You have schedules to meet and obli- gations to ful ll. Jesus casually approaches you. You know Him and have experienced many of His crusades. His preaching powerfully moved you and brought you to a new hope. But there is something di erent about this particular experience. It is obvious that He speci cally came to your place of work. He has come with a purpose. What does He see in you that at- tracts His attention?
His call is simple. “Follow Me,” (Matthew 4:19). Follow in the Greek language (deute opiso) is an expression of two words. e rst word (deute) literally means, “come here.” It is an imperative statement. e second word (opiso) means, “after.” is identi es the place to which you are to
come. Jesus says, “Your place is following after Me!” Is there any better place? is is to be your new location, dwelling place.
Matthew gives further clarity to this meaning as he describes the response of the four disciples (Matthew 4:20, 22). Matthew reports that they followed Him. e Greek word (akoloutheo) is a com- bination of “together” and “a way.” e meaning is “to attend, to accompany, to go with, or follow a teacher.” is Greek word occurs ninety times in the New Tes- tament. Only eleven of these are found outside of the Gospels. In the Gospels, this word stands primarily as a term for discipleship to Jesus. Altogether sev- enty-three of the ninety occurrences of this verb refer to being a disciple of Jesus. is is my place; I am going after Jesus. I am a Jesus pusher!!!
8 CityLight.org
july 2014