Come, follow me

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were 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. Going 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, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
~Matthew 4:18-22

As previously reported, I'm reading a great book about John, the Disciple (and not John the Baptist, as I'm an idiot and was confused before). Of course, the first few chapters talk about John's call by Christ to be a disciple, and his walking away from his profession in order to follow Jesus.

And while none of us, I assume, have been commanded by Christ in person to stop what we're doing and follow His literal footsteps, those of us who have made professions of faith have, in fact, chosen to cast away our self and follow him.

I was lucky enough to be raised in a home where church attendance was never in question. Rather, we were there a minimum of three times a week, more if there was Bible School, revival, or any other reason the doors were opened. So I heard the story of the calling of the disciples many, many times. A few years ago, while working with the children's choir in a different church, we did a production called "Fishers of Men," devoted solely to the telling of the story of the calling of the fishermen into discipleship, and how we too are called to proclaim the Gospel.

But this morning, while visiting a local church where they were having a living Lord's Supper, I heard the story anew. I realized that phrase "Come, follow me, and I will make you..." is so applicable to our lives. Christ says it to each of us. "Follow me," which is a daily commitment, not just one we make at salvation, "and I will make you..." into what He wills us to be.

The first part of that verse is the most important and often most challenging. "Follow me" sounds easy enough, but we know from experience how much of ourselves we must cast aside in order to do that.

"And I will make you...." He will make us. It doesn't say, "Follow me and I will let you," or "Follow me and you will become, " but rather "I will make you." Wow. We are in His likeness, and holiness is certainly our goal. So let us follow Him and let Him make us into more than we can imagine.