Children of God are referred to by many different terms.  In the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), a popular term was “disciple.”  All Christians should aim at being the best disciples possible.  What is a disciple?  Strong tells us that a disciple is a learner or pupil.

Learning from Christ is an unending endeavor.  We can never say that we have learned enough from Christ, so there is no need to learn anything else.  We should all be striving to learn more from Him all the time.  Jesus encourages us to do so.

Matthew 11:28–30 (ESV)
²⁸ Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹ Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰ For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

How do we learn from Jesus?  We must get into the Word of God, studying and meditating on it as often as we can.

John 8:31–32 (ESV)
³¹ So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Being a disciple of Christ is conditional.  The condition is that we abide in His Word.  The Greek word for “abide” is menō and means to stay, continue, dwell, remain, tarry, etc.  This is what we must do with the Word.  To be the best disciples of Christ we can be, we must be in the Word of God consistently.   Studying the Word of God is the primary way we become the best disciples we can be.  We must allow the Word to dwell in us.

Colossians 3:16 (ESV)
¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

This dwelling is where the power of God’s Word is.  The more the Word dwells in us, the more we learn.  This takes time.  For the Word to dwell in us, we must commit it to memory.  We do not have to commit every word in the Bible to memory, but we should be aware of all the major biblical doctrines and know them by heart.  To be the best disciples of Christ we can be, we must know what the Bible teaches about salvation, sin, love, redemption, the church, the Holy Spirit, the Godhead, and more.  We should have at least some passages that deal with these matters memorized, and the more, the better.  We cannot take a physical Bible with us everywhere we go, but we can take the Word with us if it dwells in us.

Studying the Word of God as often as we should is a challenge and takes some sacrifice, but that is what being a disciple of Christ is all about.

Matthew 16:24–25 (ESV)
²⁴ Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Denying self is a core aspect of discipleship.  While being a pupil of Christ is the primary idea behind discipleship, it also means to be a follower of Christ, and no one denied himself more than Jesus did.  Let us be followers of Jesus, for that is what true disciples of Christ do.  But let us also remember that the more we learn of Him, the more we can become like Him.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.