“Then said Jesus unto His disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”” Matthew 16:24 KJV
You are most probably familiar with words like ‘post,’ feed,’ space,’ ‘tag,’ ‘content,’ and ‘follow,’ as they have whole new meanings in this social media age.
When we follow someone on a social media platform, it means we have voluntarily agreed to see the person’s content and engage with them by liking, commenting, and sharing their content.
As men and women of faith in this world, are we truly following Jesus?
The answer to that question depends on another: “What would Jesus do?” It is a question many believers today ask themselves in order to be sure they are doing the right thing. This is what being followers of Jesus means – that we do not do anything outside of what He would do or has commanded us to do.
“And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” Hebrews 6:11-12 NKJV
To be an active follower, we ought to do as Jesus did when he was on earth and one thing He never took for granted was prayer. There are no less than 38 times where it was recorded in the Bible that Jesus prayed (Luke 5:16, Mark 6:46).
He prayed short and long prayers. He prayed for Himself, His disciples, the sick, strangers, and even those who were persecuting him. By observing the life of Jesus, we can tell that no matter the situation, we need to pray unceasingly (1 Thess. 5:16-17).
In this season of prayer, you need to intentionally follow Christ the same way you would your favorite influencer on social media. There are several ways you could do that.
You can start by praying like Jesus did. Pray for your local assembly, for the sick, about your current circumstances, and your future. Invest time in long prayers and make declarations in short prayers too. Cultivate an atmosphere of prayer.
Like you would comment on a social media post, do the same and take it a notch higher with the Word of God. When you hear a word that has blessed you, say something about it. The world needs to hear the gospel through you.
If you have a platform and a voice, use it to propagate God’s word. Let your social media feed reflect your priorities in Christ. Post, repost and post some more about Jesus.
In your day to day life, seek to invite people to share what you have in Christ. Share your testimonies, invite them to your church, and pray with and for them. This is equivalent to tagging people to engage with a post on social media. Calling people to Christ is worth much more.
Finally, when Facebook asks “what’s on your mind?,” you tell it. For a change, cultivate the habit of telling God all that is on your mind. Communicate with Him all the time because prayer does so much in and for us.
Bible Reading Plan:
Luke 22:47-53, Hebrews 7:1-10, Proverbs 23:19-35, Isaiah 29-30