What Is a Disciple? (Luke 14:33)

What is a disciple?  Is it merely a person who is a believer in Jesus?  Or is it a person who is mastering principles and practices of life?  Many times in English, the word disciple can refer to a person who is disciplined.  Is that a disciple?

In this passage, a disciple is a person who is a pupil or learner.  He or she is a person who is learning about Jesus.  Learning information is one thing, but a disciple of Jesus is a person who is learning about Jesus.

We all have learned about somebody. Whether it be a spouse, a child you are raising or even a close friend.  The more we spend time with these individuals, the greater the opportunity we have at learning about them.

As with everything in life, there can always be hinderances.  The hinderances to learning about Jesus occurs when we fail to yield our lives to him.  In this passage, he speaks about forsaking all.  Forsaking all means to say adieu to what you think you have control over in your life.  Remember in Matthew 11:29, when Jesus admonished us to take his yoke upon us and to learn of him?  It is at that time of yielding when we learn of Jesus.

When we fail to yield to him or we refuse to submit our lives to his care, we fail to learn of him and we fail to grow.  Do you want to grow in Christ?  If so, say goodbye to controlling your life and when you do, Jesus can begin to reveal things about himself to you.