I WILL MAKE YOU: Decide

Mark 1:17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." NKJV

Beloved, in my last post I introduced this series on ‘I will make you’. Today we are continuing on the second article on this series subtitled decide to follow.

Peter and his partners listened to the request of Jesus, and they followed Him. Such an action requires personal decision even though it was the Lord who called them. It still depended on their decision to follow Jesus or not. After all, they had legitimate business and other things that were occupying their time.

We saw elsewhere in the scripture where Jesus asked other folks to follow Him but they didn’t. Instead, they had other priorities they needed to attend to first. Luke 9:59-61. They presented strong reason or evidence against the request, and decided against it by postponing it.

Offered same opportunity to follow Jesus but made different decisions. Why?

Taking decision involves choices

Cambridge dictionary defines decision as “a choice that you make about something after thinking about several possibilities”. One would think that Peter and his partners suddenly jumped into following Jesus. There was a cognitive process resulting in their selection of following Jesus.

They had option as well to say ‘no’ or postponed the call just like the other folks. They had choices but decided in favor of the request. When someone says, “I did this because I don’t have a choice or an option”, most time, the person simply had decided in favor of a wrong choice. The most sincere approach is to say “These are my options, but I have decided on this particular one based on the following reason(s)”. There are always choices and reasons. And the decision people eventually make, depends on their values, or the value they place or have seen on the choice.

In another passage, concerning those who could also follow Jesus, Jesus said “…which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost…” Luke 14:28. Our decision is a product of our considerations. You weigh your options. You count the cost of your choice. You take action.

Decide in favor of the call

When it comes to answering the call of God upon our life I see it as an opportunity which we need to be thankful for and take the advantage. Our Lord Jesus chose His disciples by asking them to follow Him of which some couldn’t decide immediately because they have other things which they think were more important. It is common to find people giving different reasons why they will not do the things God wants now, a lot of people have postponed the call of God upon their life until it is too late just like the man that told Jesus to permit him to go first an bury his father before he will come and follow. Jesus didn’t  wait for him. God cannot run short of people to use to carry out His assignment on earth even though He has an assignment for every of His children yet He will not force anyone. We are to decide to obey and follow Him.

Don’t sit on the fence

The most difficult person to stand with is someone who cannot stand or take a stand. I know a company that missed about N400m ($1.1m @ N363 per dollar) worth of contract because they were indecisive. They didn’t say ‘no’ or convincing ‘yes’ to the opportunity when it came. They didn’t follow through with the requirements as they should. The person at the helm of the affairs of awarding the contract was a friend to this company who knew they had what it takes to do the job and could influence the decision to their favor. Yet the company missed the contract.

They didn’t have to work their way to the top, they already had the friend at the top who could link them up, but they were just indecisive. If they had said ‘no’ to the contract, the man would have been surprised, and if they had said ‘yes’ vividly, the man could have helped them to overcome whatever challenge they were facing in meeting up with the requirement. But they were neither here nor there, or rather they said ‘yes’ but didn’t follow through with the requirement until the opportunity passed. Is it because, initially, they were not informed of the contract sum involved?

Being lukewarm (neither cold nor hot) or not being here or there as a Christian is the most difficult position one should ever take. It is more difficult to help someone in that position. Even God cannot help such a person and that is why in revelation the Lord says “because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth”. (Rev.3:16). Nobody knows where you stand, and the type of help you need until it is too late.

He helps you to decide

The day I was prompted to pick up my mobile phone to call my mentor in June 2009, it was like a normal courtesy call after we had lost touch for several years due to unavailability of mobile phone when we first made contact in 1995. But that reconnection changed everything about my spiritual life which is part of the new spiritual journey of many years that brought me to where I am today. I was a struggling Christian for over a decade prior to that call. Perhaps I had missed several opportunities to connect with the right mentor to train me as I should, but I couldn’t miss this one. I can say that Jesus has a way of helping those who are to follow Him to come to Him.

• It was not by accident that Jesus caused Peter and his partners to catch large number of fish before asking them to follow Him, and they decided to follow Him. Mark1:17. They saw something about this Man. 
• It was not by accident that Andrew and co were there when John the Baptist proclaimed whom Jesus was - the lamb of God, of which they left him and followed Jesus. John1:35-40. They heard something about this Man.
• It was not by accident that Philip went to call Nathaniel and Jesus went ahead to tell Nathaniel a bit about his life when he came. Nathaniel believed Jesus already and followed Him. John1:45-50. He heard something from this Man.

Recognize your opportunity and decide to follow

Peter and his fishing partners recognized their opportunity when Jesus came to them and decided to follow Him. Nathaniel found his opportunity when Philip reached out to him and told him that He had found the Christ. Many other disciples recognized their opportunity to follow Jesus in several other ways and they took it. And eventually there were about 120 devoted followers together before the day of Pentecost. Acts1:15.

It is true there are many false teachers out there that we must avoid, but the Lord still has His trained people or mentors, though few, reaching out to those who believe and need to be trained or mentored as well, and also making themselves accessible in different ways, both offline and online. For you that is struggling with your faith as I did or want to grow in faith, it is your responsibility to distinguish your mentor and decide to follow him or her to be trained…

We will continue the series in my next post... Thank you for your audience. Remain blessed.

I WILL MAKE YOU

Mark 1:17 Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." NKJV

Beloved brethren, I bring Calvary greetings to you and members of your family this fateful day in Jesus Name. Amen. After a long break, today I will be introducing an important topic that we all are familiar with and yet everyone seems to battle with it. It is a series on a topic I titled ‘I will make you’.

I have not been active in posting my messages on my blog for about a year now. It has been due to other engagements but primarily because of my dealings with the Lord as one also in making. I can say that I have gone through certain training process (both through experiences and studies) that will assist transform how I communicate my messages to my audience. I cannot say that I have become very perfect in communicating my messages but I am making progress.

Earlier Feedbacks About My Messages

My earlier messages (which I used to share through emails, text messages and WhatsApp) sometimes seem very difficult for my audience to comprehend. Some say “my writing is philosophical”. Some say “it is too high”. Some say “it is hard to understand”. Some say “it makes them unease after reading”. Only a few who know me better on a personal level try to understand my messages. And that includes my wife and some other close brethren and colleagues. But looking at the majority of the feedbacks, it was obvious that something was not right with my style of communication. I needed to improve.

I never thought I was a writer

The truth is that when I started getting messages as I read the scriptures, I didn’t know I will turn out to be sharing my messages with others in writing, neither did I know that writing will be part of what I was called to do. I didn’t see myself as a writer and didn’t even want to be seen as one. The main reason I was writing down what I was learning in my notepad and my phone memo was for my personal consumption and also because I didn’t want to forget them. It was after a while that I realized I could not be keeping what I was writing to myself and I started sharing the messages with some people in my contact list as I continue to write.

Writing broadly for others to understand could be a piece of cake for some folks but not for me, it has always been difficult. Maybe because I am an introvert and reserved. It has always been difficult for me to communicate clearly what I have in my mind and the same thing also happens even when I am talking. It appears as if instead of communicating broadly, I will just communicate the summary of what I want to say and leave out other details. Meanwhile it is those details that will help my audience better understand what I am trying to communicate.

Accepting feedback helps

Through the feedbacks of my wife, some brethren and colleagues, I have come to realize the challenges I face in communication and started making pragmatic efforts to improve myself. However, accepting those feedbacks and facing the reality did come easy for me.

Sometimes it seemed as if the problem was not from me but from them. If I understood what I was writing why couldn’t they? But the reason I understood what I was writing was because the harmonizing part of what I was writing was in my head (unwritten) of which my audience was not privy to. It is like intending to give someone a piece of meat, but the meat has only the bone without the flesh. You kept the flesh in one plate (in your head) and served the bone in another plate to your audience.

“After preparing the draft of my write-up, I will then begin to flesh it” That was what my friend who is a great writer used to say to me. It took me time to finally understood him.

Self-Development Matters

Recently I went for a ‘train the trainer’ course which was a great eye opener for me. That some people are highly skilled in a particular field and or industry does not mean that they are good at teaching others or sharing their skills. Training professionals as good as they are, also require training to make their courses more effective. Train the trainer model is designed to ensure that trainers have the right tools to impact critical learning to their audience. A good trainer has to carry his audience along while communicating to them, and not only dishing out lessons as if he is talking to himself.

I appreciate feedbacks. While I continue active posting on my blog, I am open to comments and suggestions on how my messages will be more suitable and understandable to you. Your feedback could just be what I need to develop myself better in writing. The scripture on its part also supports the need for preachers to improve their communication style while sharing their messages. Changing the style of communication does not in any way change the content (the truth) of your messages, it only helps the audience to better understand the content of your messages.

Eccl 12:10 “The Preacher sought to find acceptable words; and what was written was upright — words of truth.” NKJV

 Eccl 12:10 “Kohelet worked to develop an attractive writing style, in which he expressed the truth straightforwardly.” CJB

Being good in writing takes work

It is the responsibility of the preacher to seek to find acceptable words or as the CJB (Complete Jewish Bible) translation puts it: worked to develop an attractive writing style. Well-developed writing style helps to attract (pull) the preacher’s audience to his message.

It is not only about having great message you can preach, but also knowing how best to communicate the message to your audience for the message to be acceptable and beneficial to them. And it is the direct duty of the preacher to develop such an attractive writing style. It is his duty to work to develop an attractive writing style which is part of what actually makes him a preacher.

Every great preacher is made

‘I will make you’ is the caption of this series. Every great preacher is made. Becoming fishers of men is not only about having great messages to preach to men, but also about developing the ability to communicate the messages effectively. Your messages and your style of communication must go hand in hand for your audience to accept and appreciate your messages. And this is the aspect that I’ve learnt and still give room for improvement.

In my next post, we will go into the next article on this series. Be my guest.

Thank you for your attention so far. Remain blessed.