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…
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