“Come, follow me” (Mark 1:17).

There is a time for discernment. There is a time for prayer. There is a time for seeking greater clarity.

BUT…there comes a time when you don’t need more discernment, more prayer, or greater clarity. What is needed is obedience. If God has already told you what to do, if Jesus is asking you to follow him, you don’t need more clarity, more discernment, or prayer. What’s needed is for you to get your butt in gear and get following.

What are some things that need your obedience? What are some areas in your life where you need to obey?

Stop delaying. God already told you what to do. Get going. Follow him.

“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.

“The LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention” (2 Chronicles 33:10).

1 and 2 Chronicles and 1 and 2 Kings records a depressing history of how the kings of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah rebel against God. Every once in a while, you come across a king who does what is right.

It’s not because Israel and Judah didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t because the kings didn’t know what was right and what was wrong. It wasn’t because God wasn’t present. The writers of Chronicles and Kings tell us over and over how God would send his prophets to guide, warn, and prophesy against the rebellion and rejection of God.

One of these kings was named Manasseh. We are told by the Chronicler that “the LORD spoke to Manasseh and his people, but they paid no attention” (2 Chronicles 33:10).

Notice that God spoke to Manasseh and his people. It wasn’t that God was absent. It wasn’t that God was silent. It wasn’t that Manasseh and his people didn’t know what God wanted from them. Despite all of this, Manasseh and the people paid no attention.

Question – how would you know that Manasseh and the people paid no attention to God? What would be the proof of their indifference?

Obedience. They knew what God had said. They knew what God expected from them. But they paid no attention. They kept living as if God had said nothing.

How sad. Why would anyone do that?

Hmmm.

God has made his will clear to the people of our day through God’s word. It’s not that we don’t have access to God’s word. It’s not that many Christians don’t know what God says about worshiping God, prioritizing God. It’s not that we don’t know what God says about money, sexuality, about taking care of the weak, the orphaned, the widowed.

How would we know if the people of today pay no attention to God?

Obedience.

We can do better. We must do better.