I Kings 19:21 says that when Elijah called Elisha to be his disciple, that Elisha sacrificed the oxen he had been plowing with (demonstrating that he was “all in”, see devotion here) and the text continues: “then he arose and followed Elijah …”

All the preceding surrounding Elisha’s “decision” to follow Elijah would have been superfluous had he not then actually gotten up and followed him!

The significance here was not about the “celebration” of Elisha making a “decision” to follow Elijah — but that he actually did FOLLOW Elijah!

The same thing is true of our contemporary “decisions” to follow Christ. Much is often made today about the importance of “making a decision” to follow Jesus. And the decision to follow Him is indeed important. But the significance is not about the “decision” itself, but as in the case of Elisha, that we actually do FOLLOW Jesus that is important. Your “decision” is only as good, and as real, as your actual following. Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” It is the following that Jesus is after, not just that we make a “decision” to follow Him.

Would you evaluate your life today, and consider not merely whether you have “made a decision” to follow Jesus — but whether you have ever actually gotten up and followed Him?