“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. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. (Mark 1:16-18) If you were standing fishing by the sea and you made your “living” from fishing, would you leave behind what you would see, at that moment, as your “livelihood” and come with someone you had never seen in your life?
This is a wonderful question to ask in prayer. You can sit and ask Lord Jesus to help you with the answer. It is truly great to “get real” with yourself, take the “plank out of your eye” and see how much you trust Lord Jesus in your own daily life. This will also give a great appreciation of the power and clarity of Lord Jesus. Why would these men, Simon and Andrew simply walk away from their livelihood and the life they knew, to go with a total stranger?
Lord Jesus must have exuded enormous power to have had this result. He is as He says “THE LIFE”, so any person who leaves behind their old life for Him will gain a totally NEW LIFE which goes forever! In this ‘Breaky with Jesus’ I share part of a new song I have written, “Come follow me”, to help the listener to really imagine what it would be like to be in the shoes of Simon and Andrew.
Well over 2,000 years after these men left everything they knew, owned and the life they once had, to come and follow Lord Jesus, it is in a way much easier for us. If we come from a nation founded on the work of Lord Jesus, we know about Him from the time we are children. Even if people around us are not Christians, or we are not from a Christian family or background, Christmas and Easter are annual events throughout our nation, so we have the opportunity to ask people what this day is all about.
In nations which have not been founded with Christian principles at the core, it may be much harder for people to even know about Him. I lived in a nation for two years, where Easter came and went without any evidence that it existed. Initially this was quite a shock to me, as I grew up in Australia where Easter is being advertised at least one and a half months before it occurs in many different ways. Christmas was celebrated in that nation I stayed in for two years, but it was much more of a display of Christmas trees, reindeer and elves rather than sighting any Christian symbols.
Even before I became a Christian, I still knew about Lord Jesus. I knew about Him from the time I can remember. When I was offered the opportunity to “come follow Him” ( the second time, the first time I was too cool for school!) I grabbed it with both hands, dropped my “nets” and followed Him. I do not know whether thousands of words could express how grateful I am to have been given a second chance to come with Him. The difference coming with Him every second makes to my life is way beyond words. He brings me the “WAY” the “TRUTH” and the “LIFE”, as that is who and what He is! He brings with His words and His presence, worlds within worlds to explore.
If you are a fan of “The Hobbit” by Tolkien, coming with Him is way more than “An Unexpected Journey”, it is a never ending journey at the highest level, bringing one to know God more intimately every day. Jesus has brought me to adventures way beyond what I could ever have imagined!
To imagine though, what it would have been like before Lord Jesus was famous and many people knew Him, if He came to you, would you have come? What would it have been like to have Him come and speak to you? How would you have felt. This is really exciting to imagine. The first time I was ever told about Lord Jesus, I could feel my heart beating in my chest. I was at university studying law and was with my boyfriend who is now my wonderful husband William. I felt so drawn to come to Lord Jesus, but when the person telling me told me I had to go to a church I had never heard of and drive to a district which was out of my “comfort zone” (only about 25minutes drive from where I lived), I felt myself withdrawing. There must be quite a lot of laughing about this in heaven, as since becoming a Christian, I have been so “taken” by God out of my comfort zone, traveling around the world alone, going wherever I have been called by Him to go.
It is quite hard in a way to imagine what it would have been like to have a person come up to you and say, “Come follow me”. “I will make you fishers of men”. Over 2,000 years after Lord Jesus said these words, we know a lot more about him than Simon and Andrew obviously knew meeting Him for the first time. I could believe about myself that I would run after Him, but in reality when a man told me about Jesus the first time, I was suspicious even though I had heard about Lord Jesus all of my life. At that point in time, for me, I had never heard of a Christian. There were only Catholics, Anglicans, Presbyterians and so on. When this man told me He had met “Jesus” I was shocked. He had been a bit of a surfer, taking lots of drugs and getting “wasted” a lot. When William and I saw him, we said, “What happened to you? You look so different.” He told us he had “met Jesus”! I am so shocked now that I did not go to the church he told us to go to where he had met Jesus.
Now of course I would run so fast to meet Him because I have known Him and loved Him now for 25 years. If you really know Lord Jesus intimately then of course you know you would follow Him anywhere, wherever He goes, you will go. If you do not know Lord Jesus you may be much less likely to simply trust Him one hundred percent with your life.
It is a great start to come before Him and give Him all of yourself, as He is the Son of the Most High God. However, this may be very difficult if you are a person who has problems with trusting anyone. As Lord Jesus is the “corner stone” it is such a huge help and relief to start with Him in the “corner” and move outwards from there! Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures?’The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’ (Matthew 21: 42) When you come with Lord Jesus as soon as He calls you, you will be blessed and blessed and blessed! God Bless you, come with Jesus and share His love, Kelly Newton-Wordsworth
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