“Come follow me”. That’s all he said. Three little words that changed the course of 12 lives and through them, the world. What was so compelling about these words that fishermen left their nets, tax collectors left their booths, and men ran to find their brothers to bring them along too?
The rabbis had disciples. When someone chose to become a disciple, they followed their rabbi where they went, they ate what they ate, they slept where they slept. They stayed close so they could glean all the wisdom there was to glean from their teacher so they could become like them. So they could become the next rabbi that people followed around. They basked in the attention that came from being a member of so-and-so’s group. When Jesus called out to those men to follow him, he was offering a coveted place of belonging to people who had been looked over. They had already been through their initial schooling and it had been determined that higher learning was not going to be for them so they had entered the trades. This was a second chance to become something they hadn’t thought was even an option for them anymore. So they dropped everything to follow him.
They thought they were getting a boost in popularity and maybe a chance at becoming a teacher themselves. They thought they were getting a promotion in life and some thought they were going to be a part of history and the overthrowing of the Romans. What they got was even better! They got to have a relationship with the messiah, the savior of the world.
Jesus is still calling us today. He still says “Come, follow me.” He still offers a relationship that is better than anything we could have imagined and he calls us back to the purpose for which we were created. When we don’t know where to go or which choice to make, Jesus is there guiding us. He knows what we need and where we are going. All he asks is for us to follow. Jesus is love and love leads!
