to follow

i decided about a week ago, to re-read the Gospels. i must admit, it has been some time since i had last spent solid time studying the life of Jesus. and so i have begun reading the Gospel of Matthew again, taking it slow and soaking it in. and for the last day or so i have been stuck on a part in chapter 4. i have read on, but i find myself coming back to this part over and over again.

it is the part where Jesus calls His first disciples. a part that honestly, i think often times i have just blown by. but something about it struck me this time. there seems to me something peculiar about the calling here. no, not so much the calling itself, but the response to it.

19"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." 20At once they left their nets and followed Him. 21Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.

here we find Jesus walking up to some men, telling them to follow Him, and they just leave everything behind. something about this strikes me in a way i have no words for. these grown men, with businesses and equipment for the job, even a father, just get up and leave it all behind without a second thought. i remember hearing before something about the way Jesus called them. i had heard that it was an honor to be a disciple of a rabbi, a teacher. and that the way to be called into discipleship by one was for them to simply say, "follow me". this is exactly what Jesus did. now, Jesus is much more than a typical rabbi, He is the Son of God. He is not just a teacher, but the Creator.

and He called these men to go with Him, to follow Him and learn. and they got up and did so without a second thought. i think that feeling i mentioned earlier, the one without words, is conviction. conviction in my heart about following Jesus. i remember excepting the call to follow Jesus, but am i living up to it today? am i following Him in passionate pursuit without second thoughts? am i willing to leave my boat, even my father, behind to follow the King?

Peter, Andrew, James and John were. they left it all. at once. immediately.

there was no second thought in their decision. how about you? how about me? i know for me, it is something i honestly struggle with at times. Paul talks about the battle between the spirit and the flesh. what i know is right and true, and what i want out of my selfishness. do i really want to leave my boat? how about my father? my flesh, our flesh, wants to hold onto these things. yet my spirit says no, let them go and seek passionately after the King. it says, dont look back, dont rethink it. just go.

just follow.

the call the disciples received i dont think is much different from that of ours. we are called to follow, to learn and walk in the ways of Jesus, just as the disciples were. the question i must ask, that we must ask is this: are you willing to leave it all and follow Him?

would you leave it all behind to pursue the King?