Following Jesus: How Do We Walk With Him?
30 min read
Following Jesus when it is costly, confusing, or seemingly fruitless is not an exceptional form of discipleship. It is what discipleship is.
"Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." — Galatians 6:9
1. Eugene Peterson named the basic condition: "a long obedience in the same direction."
Peterson borrowed Friedrich Nietzsche's phrase — Nietzsche meant it critically, Peterson meant it as a description of the Christian life. Discipleship is not a sprint of spiritual intensity followed by coasting. It is a sustained, directional movement over years and decades — through seasons when God seems present and seasons when he seems absent, through success and failure, through health and suffering. The Psalms of Ascent (Psalms 120–134) are pilgrim songs for the long journey.
2. Jesus never promised that faithfulness would feel productive.
The man who built his house on the rock still experienced the storm Matthew 7:24-27. The storm did not indicate that the foundation was wrong — only that storms are part of life. Following Jesus does not protect you from suffering, disappointment, or the apparent silence of God. It gives you a foundation that holds when those things come. The faithfulness Jesus calls for is not contingent on the circumstances feeling right.
3. The pattern of the Christian life includes Gethsemane, not just the Mount of Transfiguration.
Peter, James, and John witnessed the Transfiguration — Jesus' glory revealed, God's voice heard Matthew 17:1-8. They were also present at Gethsemane — Jesus in anguish, disciples asleep, arrest coming Mark 14:32-42. Both are real. Both are part of following Jesus. The person who expects the Christian life to be permanently Transfiguration and never Gethsemane is setting themselves up for a faith crisis when the dark seasons come.
4. Perseverance is not passive endurance — it is active faithfulness.
Hebrews 12:1 — "Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus." The runner is moving. The runner has a destination in view. The runner has set aside every weight that slows progress. Perseverance in the Christian life is not gritting your teeth and surviving. It is actively fixing your eyes on Jesus and continuing to move in his direction, regardless of how you feel about the terrain.
5. The final word is not weariness — it is harvest.
Galatians 6:9 — "Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up." The condition is "if we do not give up." The promise is "we will reap." Not might. Not probably. The harvest is assured — what is uncertain is whether we will be present for it, having given up before it came. The entire New Testament's posture toward the future is: the outcome is certain, the endurance is called for, the reward is coming.
Complete after this lesson.
Write a paragraph: describe what "the long obedience in the same direction" looks like specifically for your life — not in general terms, but in the specific relationships, commitments, and callings you are already living.
Submit your paragraph and your journal answer about the area where faithfulness is currently costly.
A: Discipleship as sustained, directional faithfulness over years and decades — through all seasons, regardless of feelings or circumstances.
A: No. Jesus never promised that. He promised a foundation that holds when the storms come — not protection from the storms.
A: Active perseverance fixes its eyes on Jesus and continues moving in his direction. Passive endurance merely survives without direction.
Lord, I am tired. But I am not giving up. Fix my eyes on you rather than on the difficulty of the terrain. Give me the grace to continue one step at a time. Amen.