Discipleship: Following in the Savior's Footsteps

John chapter 6 opens with the Savior and His disciples on a mountain, or a place of sacredness, perhaps for personal meditation or to prepare for the coming Passover. Christ did have trials and sorrows in His mortal life. Though he was always the perfect example of Heavenly Father’s ways, the world around Him was not. He just chose to focus on righteousness rather than the trials, part of this was noticing and placing the needs of others above His own. For any of us, that’s not an easy thing to do. There were plenty of difficult things going on in the Savior’s life that He might have needed to ponder and pray about, but at some point Christ looked up and acknowledged the crowd that had followed Him.

Let’s look at what the Savior did when He saw the multitude in this account. He noticed their hunger and asked His disciples how their needs could be filled. He asked if there were traditional or expected solutions to the problem, partly to recognize this as a first step and partly to make sure those around Him acknowledged the absence of normal means to solve the problem. When there was not a way for them to feed themselves He provided divine intervention. He took what seemed a meager offering and fed the five thousand. When it was done He gathered what was left so that nothing would be lost. There was an abundance left over to gather.

There are two lessons here for the disciple.

The first is the role of the Savior in our lives. He sees our needs. He asks us to look for the normal and reasonable ways to help ourselves, but He doesn’t leave us alone when these options prove insufficient. At that point His divine intervention is always available. He takes the little we have to offer and turns it into more than enough to fill our needs. His grace and love is unlimited. There will always be more than enough. He’ll never run out of ability and ways to help us if we offer up our part and accept His offering in return. He has more than 5000 ways to succor up His disciples.

The second is our role in following His example. Because we serve and follow Him, our priority is helping and serving our fellow man in His name. We follow the same pattern as the Savior. First, we notice others more than ourselves. Second we look for normal and available means of helping the person or allowing them to help themselves. When this is not an option, we take our meager offering, the little bit we can do for them, and offer it to the Lord to magnify. Then, there will be more than enough for all. Lastly, we notice what has been accomplished and gather those blessings to us so that nothing is lost and we are sustained until the next time we can be of service.

Just as the Savior’s capacity to love and serve us knows no bounds, this is the attitude we are trying to develop. Start a service record or journal, how long will it take you to provide 5000 acts of service and what do you think will be left when you and those you associate with have been filled? Perhaps more importantly, how long will it take before you’ve recorded 5000 ways the Savior has blessed you?

We talk so often about the sweet blessings of discipleship it sometimes seems easy to ignore the cost. In fact depending on how you look at it, the cost of not following the Savior is much higher than that of becoming a disciple. While this is true, it doesn’t mean discipleship is an easy path. It only means that the end result is definitely worth the cost. Often, this cost is more immediate and greater than many feel willing to pay. Even among His disciples, there will be many who try to “short-change” the Savior, never realizing that they’re only cheating themselves not Him.

What does the disciple pay for the Savior’s promised blessings? I think it’s different for each of us and some may actually think the price is negotiable. Different it may be, but the information on the price tag asks the same thing of everyone. He asks for our all. He asks us to turn over all that we are so that He can mold those things into something much more beautiful than any value we might have placed on the original price.

In the words of James E. Faust:

“Our true claim as disciples comes when we can say with certainty that His ways have become our ways.” James E. Faust, “Discipleship,” Ensign, Nov 2006, 20–23

Part of our purpose in life is to be tried and tested. Not just in a few things, but in all things that are necessary for our eternal salvation. He, and we, need to know the measure of our faith and patience for the things of the Lord. He tests not only our faith in the moment, but also over time. Can we still say, “Thy will be done” when that answer is not forthcoming on our own timetable?

The goal of the disciple is to become as close to Christ’s perfect example as our imperfect lives will allow. Following the Savior’s example requires us to embrace the mission of our own lives, overcome the world and finish the work we have been given to do. Even as Christ did, we need to learn to let our will be “swallowed up in the will of the Father”. We need to learn to embrace the process of change and refinement. While we have been granted the wonderful gift of agency, the best gift we can give back to the Lord in gratitude is the will of our hearts. We can offer that agency back to the Lord with humble sincerity in order to find out what choices He would have us make. That is the time we will truly find out about His love and our own divine potential. The more we are willing to “give up” of ourselves, the more room there is for the Savior in our lives.

“The more we know of Jesus, the more we will love Him. The more we know of Jesus, the more we will trust Him. The more we know of Jesus, the more we will want to be like Him and to be with Him by becoming the manner of men and women that He wishes us to be (see 3 Ne. 27:27), while living now “after the manner of happiness” (2 Ne. 5:27). Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Plow in Hope’,” Ensign, May 2001, 59

Walking as a disciple of Christ is a lifelong journey and because the journey can be rough there will be those who will chose to leave His path. Fortunately, whether we turn away completely, or simply stumble on the path, the Savior’s atonement is always there as a way back. Because of Christ’s sacrifice, we can live for and with Him. Discipleship requires a full commitment to the Lord’s way, where ever it may take us, for the duration of our lives. This is the price we pay for His welcoming arms and words of comfort, love and pride at that end of life. That is the price we pay for His guiding and steadying hand every day until then. It’s definitely worth the price.

I ran across a beautiful set of scriptures the other day as I was celebrating the return of spring. They’re found in John 15.

1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.
7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.
8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.
9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:1-11

It goes on with more great counsel and blessings, but I’d like to focus on just these verses for a moment.

I like the imagery of the vine and the fruit. I wonder how much nourishment I’m taking from my Master to bear sweet fruit. He gives us a wealth of council and knowledge which, if heeded will make us something more wonderful than we could ever imagine for ourselves. The less we heed that same counsel and knowledge, the more we shrivel and die on the vine. We can also become weakened and experience insults from outside of the vine. Again, the choice is ours as to whethe r or not we will treat these problems, or let them destroy us and cut us off from the vine. There will be times in our lives when we will find ourselves without so much fruit; times when the Master prunes and picks to allow us to become stronger and experience further growth. We decide how we will respond to these trials, as well.

Note that in all these cases the vine is still there at this point. It is the fruit and the branch that has changed. Eventually, that connection will change. Eventually, the Master will remove the dead fruit and the bare branches, so that those which are still growing can do so unimpeded. That is yet to come. Right now each of us is still on the vine with a choice to make. That choice concerns exactly how much of our Savior’s love we are willing to let into our lives and how much of the world we will keep out.

Let’s talk about the figurative worms and pestilence that can attack us in the world. These can and should be treated. Even when under attack the fruit can still be saved. Especially with the Master as the vine, each of us can be restored no matter how hopeless the situation seems. The choice is still ours; we decide if we can and want to be healed. He reaches out to honor our wishes and love us as much as we will let Him.

Consider the advice of James E. Faust.

“I believe that all of [you] want to be happy and find the peace that the Savior promised. I think many of you try very hard to keep up with all of your responsibilities. I do not wish to offend anyone. I am reluctant to mention a matter but feel it should be said. Sometimes we carry unhappy feelings about past hurts too long. We spend too much energy dwelling on things that have passed and cannot be changed. We struggle to close the door and let go of the hurt. If, after time, we can forgive whatever may have caused the hurt, we will tap “into a life-giving source of comfort” through the Atonement, and the “sweet peace” of forgiveness will be ours. Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that healing comes only with help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life. [You] can tap into that higher power and receive precious comfort and sweet peace.”
James E. Faust, “Instruments in the Hands of God,” Ensign, Nov 2005, 114

The Savior’s plea to each of us in these verses is to “Abide in me, and I in you.” He asks us for permission to enter our hearts and lives. He asks that we let Him love us. If we do that, we are called His disciples and our lives are filled with sweetness and peace. How do we invite Him in? How do we receive His greatest blessings? How do we feel His love? The answer is also given, “keep my commandments” and you will have joy. By simply using Christ as our example and living God’s laws, we can be filled with His love. He nourishes us and blesses us. He abides in us when we are trying to abide in Him.

“For the fruit of the gospel to blossom and bless our lives, we must be firmly attached to Him, the Savior of us all, and to this His Church, which bears His holy name. He is the vine that is our true source of strength and the only source of eternal life. In Him we not only will endure but also will prevail and triumph in this holy cause that will never fail us. May we never fail it nor fail Him . . . ” Jeffrey R. Holland, “‘Abide in Me’,” Liahona, May 2004, 30–32