Jesus spoke, “Follow Me” You Will Be Fishers of Men
Jesus calls His Disciples. “Follow Me!” We immediately follow Him.
My Jesus, I Love Thee.
I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath.And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.(Adoniram J. Gordon, 1876)
Reflection. Jesus our Lord, our Master and our Teacher. You and I as His faithful disciples. We learn from Him. We desire to remain close to Him — ALWAYS.
Scripture Reading: While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. And going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. (Matthew 4:18–22)
At a certain moment in our life. Jesus our LORD paused in front of us. It may have happened at a local church service. It could have been through the loving words of a Christian friend. It matters not the situation. What does matter is. Jesus called and we immediately followed. You and I immediately left behind our old lives. You and I stepped forward and followed Jesus.
When Jesus our Teacher called, “follow me.” We instantly dropped what we were doing. We swapped our old lives. For our new ones of righteous obedience . A life of obedience to Jesus’ Great Commandments. For some of us, it may have meant the changing of careers. Others may have needed to take up training. Anything that was necessary. To enable us to follow the lead of Jesus Christ. To enable us to serve God Almighty. All our lives are now carried out according to God’s Holy purpose.
Saint Luke in his Gospel used the phrase “to forsake all.” The enlightening meaning behind this term. Is “to drop” or to “leave behind.” When Jesus called His twelve disciples. These hard working men. These twelve obedient servants of God immediately. Turned their backs on their old lives. These first twelve disciples followed Jesus to wherever He led them. In complete and honest obedience to their Teacher and their Master.
At the moment of our conversion. You and I forsook all for Jesus. We began our new lives of fellowship and obedience. We turned our backs on our former choices and decisions. We chose to love and obey only Jesus.
Scripture Reading: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and Great Commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:37–40, KJV)
To “forsake” our old self is our life-long commitment to Jesus. A commitment of absolute obedience to Jesus’ Great Commandments is pledged. A choice to stay close to Jesus through prayer. We remain near to Jesus with daily Bible study.
We are called by our Lord Jesus to be His faithful disciples. As His followers. We walk with Jesus. Proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
Scripture Reading: When Jesus had finished instructing His twelve disciples, He went on from there to teach and preach in their cities. (Matthew 11:1, ESV)
Jesus is our “Rabbi.” Our Lord Jesus is our Teacher. Through the Holy Word of God. We sit at the feet of Jesus. As His proclaims the message of God. You and I spend time with the One who loves us so. Jesus our Master calls us to spend time with Him. We stand up. We walk with Jesus. We walk with our Lord in loving and comfortable companionship.
Unless we spend time each day. Sitting at the feet of our Teacher, our Lord Jesus. Spending time with Jesus through His Gospels. Being in the presence of Jesus in loving and comfortable companionship. Our lives shall remain fruitless and powerless.
The Sacred teachings of our Lord through the Bible. Allows Jesus’ profound wisdom to be passed directly into our open hearts. Brings Jesus closer and closer each day.
Scripture Reading: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. (John 16:7)
This is not possible if we fail to spend time with our Teacher Jesus. How to do this? By reading of and about Jesus in His Gospels. Jesus is then with us in loving and comfortable companionship. Devoting time by meditating on His Gospels. Enables Jesus’ wisdom to grow in our hearts and in our minds daily.
Jesus our Lord, our Teacher, our Rabbi promises all His disciples. God the Holy Spirit to abide within us to teach and to guide us.
Jesus is our powerhouse. He fills us with His wisdom and grace through the Holy Spirit.
Just as Mary sits at Jesus’ feet, we need to actively do it too.
We need to have hearts that seek God and have one that passionately desires to sit at His feet. (Karen O’Reilly, Scriptural Grace Blog)
Jesus knows and appreciates how truly difficult it is for us. To follow Him and to obey His Great Commandments each day. Jesus’ promise to His disciples to send a Helper. Also applies to you and to me. God the Holy Spirit assists us to become close companions of Jesus.
Reading of and about Jesus in His Gospels. God’s Spirit opens our minds. Providing His guidance and His wisdom.
Scripture Reading: You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them. You did not withhold Your manna from their mouths, and You gave them water for their thirst. (Nehemiah 9:20, NIV)
God the Holy Spirit’s primary purpose. The revelation of Jesus Christ to all His disciples. As we sit quietly with our Bible in hand. Praying to God the Father for further guidance and His divine wisdom. God’s Holy Spirit continually assists through inner urgers. Through His still and small voice.
Scripture Reading: Jesus promised that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, would be sent by the Father in His name. The Holy Spirit’s primary role is to teach believers all things and remind them of Jesus’ teachings. (John 14:26, NIV)
Conclusion. Jesus paused in front of each of His disciples. Jesus spoke. “Follow Me” We follow.
Today’s music to add to your pleasure.
Mary’s article, I believe will touch your heart, Diane.
If God touched your heart,
please highlight your favorite passages
and leave me a message.
Thank you.
