What does it truly mean to follow Jesus?

Dr. Joel Beeke explains that following Jesus means complete surrender. This surrender is not just in the abstract, but in the practical living of everyday life, in the decisions we make and the paths we choose. It means no longer being the captain of our own ship, but handing over the reins to Jesus. It's a radical change in lifestyle, one that mirrors the transformation of Saul on the road to Damascus who humbly asked, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6).

Following Jesus also means saying no to sin and yes to righteousness. It's about taking off the 'old man' with all its sinful deeds and putting on the 'new man', filled with knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. It means striving to be more like Jesus, embodying a servant heart, a loving heart, and a humble heart. It's about living each day with intentionality, seeking to honor Christ in all that we do, think, and say.

Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Yeah, to truly follow Jesus is to be entirely surrendered to him in the sense that I want to follow him as a person. I want to follow him through his word that he's laid out for me, the prescriptions and descriptions of being a Christian. So I just want to live to the honor and glory of his name with a totality of my being. So I'm no longer the captain of my own ship. I'm no longer the driver behind the wheel in the car.

I'm no longer the one who's got the reins in my hand. I surrender that to Him and say, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? I think Saul on the way to Damascus is an interesting example of that. As soon as he encounters Jesus, He says, and this is a radical change of his life, right? But right away he says, Lord, what would thou have me to do?

A Christian wants to say no to sin, to flee or fight sin. He wants to say yes to righteousness. So to be a follower of Christ, as Paul puts it in Colossians 3, is actually to take off the old man with all of its fleshly deeds, and to put on the new man, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, and walk in the image of Christ, and follow Him, and be increasingly conformed to His image, so that we become more and more like Him, having a servant heart, having a loving heart, having a humble heart, and seeking to just honor Him in all that we do. So it means to live intentionally each day so that when I get out of bed in the morning I cry out to God that I might honor Christ today. I might think as he would have me think, speak as he would have me speak, and walk as he would have me walk.