Come, Follow ME, Jesus said…Are you doing it?

Come, Follow ME, Jesus said…Are you doing it?

¹⁶ As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” ¹⁸ At once they left their nets and followed him.  Mark 1:15-16

Three simple commands capture the whole essence of Christianity.  “Come”, “follow”, and “send”.  Sometimes we can make it complicated, not intentionally of course.  Sometimes it can be confusing what our specific role may be.  But it is simple.

“Come”.  For all of us it starts with an invitation.  Jesus looks at the life we have been living and knows that it’s not working.  We were created for a relationship with God.  If that relationship is not right, we never end up with the true destiny for our lives.  Jesus invites us to “come”.  Immediately our natural reaction is to start giving all of the excuses why we are not able to accept that invitation.  We are too busy, too distracted, too broken, too sinful, too many obligations or too unwilling to let go of our old life.  You can’t stay where you are in your mess and at the same time say that you have “come” to the savior.

“Follow” is an ongoing present tense word, not a past action or event.  It is incomprehensible for Jesus to think that walking an isle as a child fulfills this command.  Yes, coming to an invitation to accept Jesus was following him at that moment.  But how are you following his lead right now for your life?  How does your business, family, friends, use of money, or free time reflect that Jesus is leading and you are following?  At once Peter left his vocation and followed Jesus.  He started walking with Him.  Living life with him.  Peter’s time became His timetable.  How would you describe to someone else what following Jesus looks like in your life?

“Send”.  Many have stopped following because they did not connect “following” with mission.  We are created for fruit.  We love to know that we are accomplishing something that is bigger than just us.  At some point in our following Jesus lets us become participants.  At one point in his ministry Jesus sent the disciples out by two’s ahead of him.  There were doing what they had seen Jesus do.  This “sending” is not necessarily to a specific location, but rather to specific people.  Jesus called this fishing for men.  There are those who are ready to come and follow Jesus.  Jesus invites us to participate by sharing and inviting others to come and follow.  If you feel like your Christian faith is flat, stale, or uneventful, the solution could be just this simple.  Begin inviting others to follow Christ.  When was the last time that you personally asked someone to “come and follow” Jesus for the salvation of their souls?  It’s part of the great adventure of following Jesus.  Do all three: Come, Follow, and Fish for People.

Father, thank you that to obey you is easy to understand.  May your Holy Spirit reveal to us where we get stuck on these commands.  Show us where we are unwilling to come to you or to follow you.  Teach us how to fish for people.  May we be very bold and tactful in our presenting the good news that Jesus offers for a new life.  In Jesus Name, Amen.