Come, Follow Me

“Come, follow me” (Mark 1:17).

When someone invites you to “follow,” the most logical questions are where? why? when? who else is going? what are we going to be doing?

These are legitimate questions. These are important questions. The answers to these questions determine whether I’m coming along or not.

Jesus invites people to “Come, follow me,” at least thirteen times in the Gospels according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Not one time does Jesus follow up the invitation to “Come, follow me,” with answers to be above questions.

There are several reasons why.
1. There are certain people when they beckon you, you go. It doesn’t matter where, when, who, or what else. If the President of the United States beckons you, you go. If the Son of God beckons you, you go.
2. The journey of faith is about a person more than it is a destination. The life of faith is about a relationship with Jesus. All that we need to know is that it’s Jesus. As long as Jesus is the one calling and leading, it doesn’t matter where, when, and who else is coming along. If it’s Jesus, we go because it’s all about who is the one calling.
3. Finally, even if Jesus were to tell us, we wouldn’t understand. The journey of faith is about taking the next steps.

Before closing, notice there is a two part motion to the invitation to “Come, follow me.”
1. Come – we have to go to Jesus. We go to where he is. That, oftentimes, requires leaving where we are presently. We can’t stay where we are if we want to go to where Jesus is. What is it that you need to leave behind in order to go to where Jesus is?
2. Follow me – we have to keep going wherever Jesus goes. We do what Jesus does. We value what Jesus values. We begin shaping our lives to the pattern of Jesus’ life. What character of Jesus is he asking you to follow today?

Jesus continues to invite followers to “Come, follow me.” This is an on-going, never-ending coming to Christ, and following him.