Follow Jesus

Matthew 4:18-22 – 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.

Jesus started off with the command, …Follow me,… He saw Peter and Andrew first. They responded with an action: …straightway left their nets, and followed him. Then we see later on that Jesus saw two other brethren, James and John. They also responded with an action: …they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. What has always caught my attention while reading these verses was how quickly the disciples were to listen and follow Jesus. They went to work as they did every other day, but this time it was a day that would change their lives forever because Jesus walked by them!

They were merely normal people doing a normal job. They may have even gotten up that day and said something such as, “Back to the grind!” They knew they had a job to do, and they were probably good at it and comfortable in their work. As soon as Jesus walked by and said, …Follow me,… those men …straightway left their nets,… The other men …immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. The dictionary defines straightway as “immediately.”

I often think of how many times we as ladies go about our days saying, “Back to grind.” Whether going to work at a job or working in the home, we all can be guilty of this. We may find ourselves caught up to our necks and trying to come up for air between doing laundry and dishes, making countless appointments on the phone, or just going through the busyness of the day-to-day. Instead of spending time in prayer and in our Bibles, we spend it catching up on all of these things. I understand how tempting this is when my children are asleep finally! However, we need to just take the time to spend those quiet moments with God, even if we must lock ourselves in the bathroom for five minutes, (yes, I have done this) just to talk to Him.

The disciples dropped everything they ever knew, and immediately followed Him. We should not put off the Lord for one more pile of laundry to fold, one more dish to wash, or one more call to make. I can say from experience, the laundry will always be there; the dishes are never-ending, and the phone calls are nonstop.

In our family, we sometimes will go for a random car ride just to get out of the house, and I tell my children, “Let’s get in the car.” They usually respond with, “Where are we going?” or “Can we get lunch?” or “When are we coming back home?” The Bible never says anything about the disciples asking Jesus any questions in these verses. They showed immediate trust and obedience in their reactions. Jesus said, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. He gave the disciples a promise of making them fishers of men if they would just follow Him.

Just as Jesus spoke to those disciples that day during their normal workday, He also wants us to follow Him and spend time with Him. He has a promise for us: He will make us fishers of men as well. Getting caught up on laundry and having an empty sink has never saved a soul from Hell. However, following Jesus and spending time with Him and in His Word will teach us to have a stronger testimony, to grow to have a better walk with Him, and even to prepare us to be fishers of men.

With simple obedience and no questions asked, let us just follow Jesus!

by Mandy Harper

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