For 1/2 a year we’ve pursued just ONE thing – what it means to follow Christ. We’ve covered just six basic things. They are six essentials that you’ll never get away from as you grow in your eternal relationship with Christ. As with a sport or diet plan, these essentials must be “practiced” and not simply “known.” And now, one final exhortation from Christ and from Paul: “From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:48b). “Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful” (1 Corinthians 4:2).

You have been given a most precious resource. Now you will be required to USE IT, to multiply it, to be fruitful just like Adam was told to “be fruitful and multiply… fill the earth.” Yesterday’s verse is known as the “Great Commission” of Scripture. Are you up for the task of reproducing what you have in someone else’s life – to “make disciples”? Paul, though a great evangelist, said that his primary task was to not simply lead others to Christ, but rather to “present everyone fully mature in Christ. To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 1:28-29). Paul even exhorted the “timid” Timothy (who wasn’t much of an evangelist): “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others” (2 Timothy 2:2). Encased in this short verse are four generations of mature or soon to be mature believers – Paul, Timothy, reliable people, others. Who will God touch through your life?

Jesus prayed all night before He chose His 12 disciples. Paul covered his paths with faithful people, passionate ministers, reliable elders and deacons. Who will God give YOU?! It’s not a question of “will” God give you someone! As you grow and mature in your faith, you will always find people in the Body of Christ who are still learning to crawl or walk with Christ. Titus 2 gives a picture of older men training younger men and older women training younger women. As you grow, look to reproduce what you’ve learned into someone else. Feel free to use the resources you’ve received from this course to that end. In fact, the real test of whether or not this study is of God is the test of “reproduction.” Know that reproducing something that is active in your life is easy. If you are memorizing Scripture or having daily Bible study, others will “catch” the habit as they see and copy your way of life—but you can’t reproduce what isn’t real in you. I will be in prayer for you, that you in turn can reproduce what you’ve learned here and can at some point say (like John), “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 4).

Write down the names or initials of three people you would like to see GROW in their relationship with Christ. Write out a prayer for each one: