Follow Me

 

“And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.

And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.

And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them.

And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.” Matthew 4:18-22

“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

The Call

Jesus called Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him. In order to obey and follow him, there were things that had to be left behind. Can you imagine the disciples following Jesus while still clutching onto their nets? Imagine them having to lug their nets around everywhere! Or what about their boats? No, they had to leave them all behind if they wanted to follow Jesus.

Jesus is calling us to follow Him. But in order to do that, there are things we have to leave behind. It's different for every person, but we all have to leave our dreams and the things we want, and we have to learn what God wants. Some people may have to leave their home, country, family or friends. Some may have to leave their career. Some may even lose their life. But we all have to leave our own way and follow after Christ and His way. It costs to follow Christ, but it costs far more not to. I'm sure the disciples had no regrets for what they left when it was time to die and meet God.

Since Jesus isn't literally on earth anymore, we can't follow Him around like the disciples did. But we have Jesus' Words (the Bible) that we are to follow.

The Promise

Jesus promised the disciples “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”. The call or command is to follow Him. The next half of the verse is a promise that he will make us fishers of men. He will teach us how to win other people for God. If we follow Christ, He will teach us how to be soul winners.

Are you following Christ or are you doing what you want to do?

Are you a follower of Christ or are you following everyone around you?