Come and follow!
Verse for Today: Tuesday, November 01, 2011
Matthew 4:19 – “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
Jesus gave two great invitations to His listeners. His first invitation was to the general public to go to Him if they were thirsty in their souls and heavy in their hearts. Many responded to His general invitation and went to Him and found the living water to quench their thirst and to lay all their burdens and heartaches at His feet. To those who responded to the general invitation, Jesus gave another invitation to come to Him out of their love and indebtedness. As they come to Him, He gave a very serious commandment to follow Him so that He could make them fishers of men. He wanted to specially equip them to do what only Jesus could do and so He desired that they become like Him. But in order to be made like Him, they had to leave behind the things or philosophies they followed so far and choose deliberately to follow only Jesus. He expected total and unreserved obedience to His command to follow Him. It involved full surrender to His will with utmost commitment and loyalty to Him. They had to give Jesus willing consent to make them what He wanted them to be. But this command meant that if they followed Him, they would be made different people with different abilities, mission, goals and objectives in life. They had to be willing to be made different by Him just as a potter shapes the clay in His hands according to His will. The process of making them fishers was a painful experience for which they ought to be willing. But He will make them the way He wants according to His plan for them. They were to leave their fishing profession to make money so that He could make them catch men and women for Jesus who have eternal value. In order to catch people for Jesus, they had to be first proper examples in their practical lives and at the same time they should be able to communicate about Jesus through the spoken word. Jesus promises to train, equip and empower them as His disciples so that they would be spiritual fishers of people for God.
Hello dear reader, have you recognized both these calls by Jesus? The call to follow Him comes to you if only you respond to the invitation to go to Him and get spiritual drink to quench your inner thirst for God. If your soul is thus enriched by His Word, He doesn’t want you to follow after the philosophies and goals you have had before. You are to live in the newness of life by following Jesus who met your inner spiritual needs. He expects you to go to the world and tell people about the change Jesus has brought to your life. He lovingly invites you to follow Him as His disciple and consider all that you had before to be trash and value Him greater than any thing else or any one else in this life. He guarantees that as you practice fishing for Jesus, He will meet your needs and look after you well. Today you need to recognize His call to follow Him and be willing to submit to His hands so that He can make you what He wants you to be. If you obey His command and go after Him, He will make you like Him here on earth to live for Him and His cause. Then His business becomes your business and your business will become His. Your willingness to obey His command and to pay the price to leave behind all that you have is the indicator of your love to Him and that will show whether you are on the path to become like Him or not. Today you have the opportunity to begin to walk after Jesus and become His disciple so that He can start the process of making you a fisher of men like Him.
John 14:15 – “If you love Me, you will obey what I command.”
Thought for Today
Commandment to follow Jesus is the most highly honorable opportunity made available to God’s children.
Commandment to follow Jesus is the most highly honorable opportunity made available to God’s children.
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