Last year I read a book called Into His Likeness: Be Transformed as a Disciple of Christ by Edward Sri. One point that the author made has stuck with me since. He talked about how disciples would walk behind their leader, “following him so closely that they would become covered with the dust kicked up from his sandals” and they were expected to follow “so closely that they would be covered with their master’s whole way of thinking, living, and acting” (Sri 30). He goes on to say that it should be the same for us as Jesus’ disciples (30). This is a profound image to sit and reflect with throughout this season of Lent. Imagine walking so closely to Jesus that the dust from His sandals covers us, and that we become like Him, imitating His way of life. That is the goal for each one of us, especially in this season.
We must continually ask ourselves, “How can I become more like Jesus?” The answer to that is to follow Him more closely. We can often find ourselves following other people, doing what everyone else is doing, and listening to the voices of the world. It can be easy to want to be like everyone else, to get sucked into the ways of the culture around us. But if we have faith, we will choose the path that Jesus is leading us on, choosing to follow right behind Him.
How do we follow Jesus closely? We spend time reading scripture and letting His words speak to our hearts. We immerse ourselves in prayer, growing in our relationship with Him and spend time praying in eucharistic adoration as often as we are able to. We receive the sacraments. We go to mass to worship Him and receive Him in the eucharist. We study our faith by reading the books and using the many different resources that are available to us these days. And we surround ourselves with people who are trying to do the same, so that we can be encouraged and supported on our journey to follow Him more closely.
When we follow Jesus closely, we become more like Him. We become more joyful, more at peace, and filled with deeper love. I want to be more like Jesus. While I am far from imitating Him well in every moment, I recognize that each day, I can take one small step closer. My prayer for each of us is that we would all strive to follow Jesus so closely that the dust from His sandals would cover us, and that we would all become a little bit more like Him.
Faith and The Good Stuff 