SWORD OF THE SPIRIT                                                                                               1372

“Marking Time”

And He says to them, “Come follow after Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 (BLB)

But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. – 2 Peter 3:18

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; – Matthew 28:19

Troops march forward in formation until the command is given to ‘Mark Time, march!’ and the troops continue to step but remain in place. Forward motion has ceased.

The Word of God calls us to Come, Follow, Grow, and Go. We answered the altar call, recited the sinner’s prayer of repentance and accepted Jesus’ atonement for our sins. But for many of us, we are satisfied to rest in the assurance of salvation and fail to follow, grow and go. We are ‘Marking Time’ and remain ‘as people of the flesh’.

But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. – 1 Corinthians 3:1-3

For though by this time, you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. – Hebrews 5:12-14

Come – We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. The free gift of salvation is for all who would come to Him in repentance and faith.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 6:35,14:6

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” – Acts 4:12

Follow – Our salvation is the first step of a journey. We must not ‘mark time’ and cease to follow Jesus. To follow Him is to surrender our will to His will, plan, and purpose for our life. We follow Him to be discipled by Him and to learn from Him. We follow to cultivate a personal relationship with Jesus.

And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. – Mark 8:34

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” – Matthew 11:28-30

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long. – Psalm 25:4-5

Grow – When we come to Jesus and follow Him, the Holy Spirit empowers us to grow in faith. This is the sanctification process whereby we are spiritually equipped to live in this world as citizens of heaven. Growth comes through consistent communion and fellowship with God through prayer. We are to seek first His kingdom over everything else in this world.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. – Colossians 4:2

We are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ – Ephesians 4:15

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness… For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ… – 2 Peter 1:3-11

Go – We grow to go. Jesus is the vine, and we are the branches. His abiding presence in us equips us for service in the Kingdom of God. His sanctification process prunes the unfruitful branches of our flesh so that we can grow in Him and produce good fruit in abundance.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” – Romans 10:14-15

Forward March! – The call of the Lord is to come to Him and receive eternal life. His call continues to Follow, to Grow, and to Go. He died for us. We are called to live for Him.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called – Ephesians 4:1

Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:13-14