Every disciple of Jesus is a learner! We are to learn from our Master every day and become more and more like Him in the process. This is exactly what the Lord called His disciples to do. The disciples of that time had living visual lessons every day as they accompanied their Lord and Master in His public ministry. What about us? Today we have the four Gospels to paint the picture of His wonderful life before our eyes and enable us to learn something from Him each day. As we read the Gospels, we are presented with the great standard, so to speak, by which we are to measure ourselves. What do I mean by this? The Son of God is the standard for our lives, and that in many ways: (1) We are to love one another as He loved us (Jn. 13:34); (2) We are to forgive one another as He forgave us (Col. 3:13); (3) We are to show the same obedience that He demonstrated here (1 Pet. 1:2); (4) We are to receive one another as He received us (Rom. 15:7). And much more!

When the wife of the missionary Adoniram Judson told him that he had been compared to some of the apostles in a newspaper article, Judson replied, “I don’t want to be like a Paul or any other person. I want to be like Christ. I only want to follow Him, copy His teachings, drink of His spirit, and put my feet in His footsteps. Oh, to be more like Christ!”

If we do this and reach out to learn from Him and live more like He lived here, then we will find rest for our souls. Then we are fulfilling our calling, and that gives true fulfillment and deep satisfaction! Charles Spurgeon aptly said, “When you are enabled by the power of the Holy Spirit to walk with Jesus in His footsteps and to walk in His ways, you are happiest, and you are most likely to be recognized as sons of God. For your own sake, my brothers, I say, be like Christ.”