We continue our series on the commands of Jesus Christ.
We turn to the next command — a command that Jesus repeated many times throughout His ministry. In Matthew 4:19, Jesus called His first disciples with these words: “Follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.”
This command was not only for Peter and Andrew. It was for everyone who would ever become His disciple. To follow Jesus means to walk with Him, learn from Him, and become like Him. It is the essence of discipleship. It is the response to His call.
First, to follow Jesus means to leave behind your old life.
When Peter and Andrew heard the call of Jesus, they left their nets. They left their livelihoods. They left the familiar. They did not wait until it was convenient. They did not make excuses.
They left everything and followed Him. The command to follow Jesus is always a call to leave something behind which can be our old ways, our old priorities, our old allegiances.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”
Following Jesus is not an addition to your life. It is a transformation of your life. It is not simply adding Jesus to your existing schedule. It is reorienting everything around Him. It is saying, “Not my will, but Yours be done.”
Second, to follow Jesus means to go where He goes.
Following is not just about leaving. It is about going. Jesus did not say, “Stay here and believe in me.” He said, “Follow me.”
He was always moving toward the hurting, the lost, the broken. He went to the cross. To follow Him is to walk the same path.
This means our lives are not our own. We are not the ones who decide the direction. Jesus is. He leads. We follow.
Sometimes He leads us through green pastures. Sometimes He leads us through valleys of shadows. But wherever He goes, we follow. Because we trust the Shepherd. He knows the way.
Jesus continues to call us today; not to a location, but to a relationship; not to a program, but to a person.
Jesus is saying to us: “Follow me.” We follow not when it is convenient nor when we have everything figured out. It is now!
So, leave your nets. Take up your cross. And walk with Him. | NWI
