Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ first disciples and hearing Him say “Come, follow Me?”
Having Jesus, in the flesh, call you PERSONALLY to follow Him?
Can you imagine how special it must have been for those disciples whom Jesus looked deep into their eyes, piercing their soul too, and said, “Come, follow Me?”
Photo credit by Sherman M. Leavitt under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
When Jesus called some of His first disciples, Jesus was like a “stranger” calling them from afar, as they didn’t really know Jesus personally.
For other disciples, some had heard about Jesus from a friend or relative so they were somewhat familiar with Jesus.
And, for some disciples, Jesus knew them personally when He called them.
Isn’t that just like us?
There are some of us that don’t know about Jesus but slowly we realize something is missing and we feel a beckoning from a stranger named Jesus.
Some of us hear about Jesus from a friend or relative and we hear Jesus calling us to heed His call in our life.
And, some of us know about Jesus and then realize we need a personal relationship with Him.
Can you imagine leaving mother, brother, your job and even home to follow Jesus? But, that is what He called those early disciples to do!
Many of them left what they were doing immediately to follow Jesus! They trusted that Jesus was in charge of their lives and would provide for them no matter what.
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Even though Jesus is in heaven with God, His Father, and not here in the flesh with us, Jesus still calls each of us and says, “Come, follow Me!”
In what ways has Jesus called you to “Come, follow Me” recently or even a long time ago?
Is your personal call from Jesus to “Come, follow Me” the most important thing in your life?
Do you follow Jesus’ lead to “Come, follow Me” daily….Following where He leads you?
Have you had to leave some of your family, your job or home to follow Jesus’ call to “Come, follow Me?”
Maybe you haven’t heard the Lord’s call that drastically in your life, but I think reflecting on Jesus’ calling His very first disciples shows us how to follow Jesus’ call in our lives too….
–To make Him number one in our lives
–To not put anything or anyone above Him in our lives
–To follow His call daily in our lives
–To make us dependent on Him alone to provide for us.
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed Him. –Matthew 4:19-20 (NIV)
“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” –John 10:27 (NIV)
I was JUST reading about this today…and thinking how hard it must have been for them to “get up and leave everything behind” to follow Jesus. It took a sacrifice of leaving much behind – but they would learn later how much greater the reward was! I often wonder if I would have been brave enough to follow….like his disciples did.
That is so cool that you were just reading that, Carol! Wow…God is good! Yes, it certainly was a big sacrifice but well worth it! Thanks for being such a faithful reader. Blessings to you. 🙂
I think honestly I’ll be hesitant especially during that time that I’m not sure who this man calling me is. Even today, I know Him, yet sometimes I still doubt and still hold on to things I want to control. I need more faith.
I think it’s a continual process of following where God leads…for us all. Keep pressing on, Lux, and thanks for sharing and blessing me!
Love this! We do need to listen to His calling and be willing to go where ever He instructs. When seeking God’s will, I always tell people to pray for courage as well because knowing where to Follow the Lord to and actually doing it are 2 very different things!
@spreadingJOY
Marie
Amen, Marie! Praying for courage is great advice too. Thanks for reading, sharing, and spreading JOY!