“This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine…”

What does it take to be a follower of Jesus? Good deeds? Going to church every Sunday? Giving to the homeless and poor? Indeed, these are “Christian” things to do, but the reality is that Christ calls us to more than just good works. He calls His followers to be disciples.

In his letter to the Philippians, Paul instructs them to “work out their salvation with fear and trembling.” Basically, he is calling God’s people to start living up to the fact that they have the Holy Spirit within them. It is often the case that when we become bogged down with the hassles of life, school, and work, we begin to complain about the tiny commitments throughout the week that we have made to God. For example, “I’m too busy to go to church or Bible study” or “Do I really need to pray about that?” Jesus’ call for us to be disciples does not mean that we must attain perfection, rather it requires that we acknowledge the Spirit of God within us and make a conscious decision to commit ourselves entirely to Him. In fact, in the Gospel reading Jesus calls us to love Him more than our families; even more than life itself!

Total commitment is terrifying for some people, and consequently many turn away because they cannot accept this invitation to complete selflessness. This is one of the most difficult aspects about being a disciple of Christ — dying to ourselves daily and carrying our own cross. However, Jesus is very explicit about this. Just as the builder or king must plan ahead, so too are we expected to know what Jesus expects of us as His disciples. Discipleship involves our being so in love with Christ that we slowly, and over the course of our lives, become more and more like Him. As we are focused so intently on Him, we begin to think less about our own selfish desires and can better view the world around us as He does. In so doing, we achieve the call to be “a light unto the world.” The cute Sunday school song actually conveys a tremendous message—to let all of our words and actions illuminate this dark world as we strive to attain the Light of Christ.