How To Become More Than A Fan
In life, we will be fans of many things that will most likely change over time, but we will only be followers of a few.
I’ve never been one of those people who is a die hard, life-long fan of a certain team.
I’m generally a fan of certain players or I jump on the bandwagon during the post season to see who I might pull for.
And while I am a Baylor fan, and a Mississippi State and Ole Miss fan (you can only be both if you didn’t grow up there), I’ve never really been a “fanatic” I suppose. I’d miss games, and I couldn’t name 3 players on any of their basketball or football teams right now.
However, over this past basketball season, the women’s Trinity Tigers — the team my sister plays basketball for — made it to the Sweet 16.
And you could say, I became a little more than a fan.
I knew every player, added more maroon to my wardrobe, and decided on a moment’s notice that I would be going to St. Paul, MN this Friday. The only people who might have been bigger fans were my mom and grandmother.
But I think it’s safe to say that we all became more than fans.
I think it’s safe to say that we became followers.
Why is this important? And why do I share this story with you?
The reason is because in life, we will be fans of many things that will most likely change over time, but we will only be followers of a few. And what we follow will determine who we become.
And the only person truly worth following, is Jesus.
So I’m writing you all here, to talk about how to become more than a fan of Jesus.
Love Who You’re Following
The only real difference between my affection for the Trinity Tigers and other teams I have been a fan of in the past, is my actual relationship with the girls on the team. I love my sister, and many of her friends!
If you don’t love who you’re following, you won’t be able to follow for long.
So many times people get caught up in a religion like Christianity or Judaism or Islam and they’re working so hard to follow a set of rules or perform a certain way for a God that they don’t even love.
I love how Jesus changes that.
1 John 4:19 says that we love because He FIRST loved us.
As Christians we can love who we follow because we can clearly see all that Christ has done for us.
Put On The Uniform
The more you follow someone, generally you become more like them. You acquire a sort of uniform; a new type of culture. I’ve acquired more maroon for my Trinity Tigers.
As Christians we clothe ourselves with compassion — we become more like Christ. We repent from our sin every single day. And we are sanctified by His spirit within us.
We have been given a new uniform. We have been made new (2 Cor. 5:17).
Go The Distance
Just like we all made crazy schedule changes and ticket purchases to fly to Minnesota this weekend on only a week’s notice, following Jesus will require much of you.
If we truly want to experience the ultimate joy and hope that is found in Jesus Christ than we have to go the distance — we have to read His word, die to our flesh, and follow His commands.
I’ve heard it said many times before in this way:
Following Jesus will cost you something, but not following Him, will cost you everything.
How are we doing friends? Are we fans of Jesus? Do we just like Him when things are going well? Do we ignore Him when His word tells us we shouldn’t do something but we do it anyways?
Are we seasonal fans? Or are we lifelong followers?
I pray we are the latter.
This post was written earlier this year, in March ’17. To learn more of how you can follow the one who will truly set you free and give you life to the full, you can check out my website http://annakathrynhughes.com.
