“And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” (Mark 1:17 KJV)
Jesus is calling you to journey with Him. What He says to one, He says to all. Follow me! This is a very simple but deep instruction. Following Jesus implies that He is at the front. The call to follow Jesus is an invitation to allow Him to lead our lives while we follow. It is a lifestyle of submitting to Christ to be at the forefront of our lives. For us to be true followers, He must be ahead and above everything. He must be the first of our priorities and considerations. We must allow Him to take the lead! That’s following!
Following Jesus is not relegating our lives, but living from the understanding that our lives only matter if He is the one living it through us.
When we hold a torch, we put it in front when walking. In the same manner, Christ must be our light, leading and guiding our journey. He must take the priority in our decisions and steps so we don’t stumble.
Jesus said, “COME after me and I WILL make you…” Oftentimes, we think the process of making is automatic. We think that once we start following, He starts making. This statement ‘I will make’ suggests to me that making starts after we have come after Him.
There must be a CONSISTENT following before there can be a COMMITTED leading from Christ. Making starts with FOLLOWING. Only a true follower is qualified for MAKING.
There are so many benefits of following and allowing Christ lead you. This isn’t just about Him knowing the way, He is the way! To get to the place of fulfillment and living purposefully, you need to follow Him. When you follow Him, He will make you! He knows the exact thing He made you to be. He is the Creator, so He designed your features and knows what you are made to be. When you follow Him, He will make you. It may not appear what you will look like, but as you follow, He will make you!
Are you following Jesus? Have you started your journey of following or you are still contemplating? There is a call on your life to become who you are meant to be. This is not about ministry or anything. It’s first about your identity. It is about you undergoing transformation as a result of following Jesus. No one follows Him and remain the same. You must make this decision to leave whatever is hindering your commitment to deeper intimacy and pursuit of God and follow Him!
For Peter and Andrew, it was their nets. The Bible says, “And straightway, they forsook their nets, and followed Him”. They didn’t have a second thought about their resolution to follow Him. We are at a time that people argue with the truth of God’s Word. They twist scriptures to favour their selfish ambitions and pursuits. For these disciples, they immediately left their nets without questioning. Sometimes, you won’t have all the answers. Sometimes, you won’t know why. Sometimes, you will have questions, but answers will come later. They did not argue nor debate the statement, they simply obeyed!
We wouldn’t know why this was urgent, but they knew that following Jesus demands urgency. They knew that this urgency shouldn’t just be a decision, but also action. We must be resolved to allow Him. He may come to you in the place of personal devotion, or through other means by which He speaks with you, to take a step. Let your resolution be to follow STRAIGHTWAY. When there is reconsideration of will, there can be temptation of will.
You can’t be indecisive and be an effective Christian. Of course, we have many Christians today, who are wolves and goats wearing sheep clothing. We can’t be in Christ and in the world at the same time. That’s indecisiveness! God is calling you to reconsider and redefine your stand as Christians. What we are standing on? What are we standing for?
Author: Benjamin Elemide
Benjamin is a writer, minister and strategist. He is the coordinator of Pursuing Holiness, Abeokuta.
