Following Jesus

Mark 1:16-20 (NIV) “16As 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. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.”

Mark 2:13-14 (NIV) “13 Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. 14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.”

I was recently talking with someone about following Jesus. We discussed how following Jesus for the disciples was much different because of his physical presence with them. However, the level of dedication for the first disciples is the same for those of us who follow him today. Notice that when Jesus called them, they left what they were doing - not just for a day but for a lifetime. Likewise, when Jesus calls us to follow him, he requires us to leave our former life behind and take a different path. In order to follow Jesus, we have to be “all in.” We cannot be swinging back and forth between our former life and our life with Christ. To do that is not to follow Christ. It is only being fascinated with him. Jesus does not call gawkers but fully devoted followers. To tell people differently is not only doing them a disservice, it could be detrimental to their life on earth and their life in eternity.

If we decide to fully devote our lives to Christ it is because we trust him. We trust that what he taught and did on earth is true. We trust that we will have eternal life with him because we believe the Bible and we have put our faith in his death and resurrection as the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. We trust that he directs our paths each day even when we don’t understand. Instead of living with doubt, we live in humble trust and dependency on the Lord. He is trustworthy down to the smallest detail. Jesus said that the Father has numbered the hairs on our head. If that is true, then we can trust him down to the smallest detail, and we can be sure that he has concern for the smallest detail of our lives. When we relax into that level of trust, then we can be sure that he will lead us to work with him in the advancement of his kingdom.

Yesterday I was praying for the people and ministries of my church when I felt drawn to go to a specific location in town. I asked the Lord if he really wanted me to go there, and the sense of being drawn did not go away. I realized that he did in fact want me to go. He was asking me to follow him. When I arrived there, I still did not know why I was there. I again asked the Lord why I was there, and he drew my attention to a nearby business. When I went inside and talked with the manager, it became crystal clear that the Lord had prepared this person for my visit. In one sense, I was expected. Our conversation confirmed that the Lord had prepared the way for our interaction. This kind of communication between the Lord and us is something that I believe should be a normal part of our relationship with him. The foundation for it is based on the fact that we have fully given our lives to him. The truth is that we trust the Lord with our daily life. What he says, we do, even when we don’t fully understand it. Without this level of trust and communication, we will miss out on many of the really cool things that the Lord has planned. We should not beat ourselves up when we are out of sync with the Lord and “miss it.” We simply need to turn back and pick up where we left off. Remember, when Peter blew it badly the night before Jesus died, the Lord gave him the opportunity to come back. Certainly, we need to feel remorse for our lack of trust. However, following the Lord is a new adventure every day. There is enough grace for everything we need today. This is also a matter of trust. So if you feel nudged today, take a step of faith and be a follower of Christ.