It is crazy how helpless the disciples seemed to be without Jesus. In fact, Peter took some of the disciples and went right back to his old way of living…fishing. He met Jesus when he was fishing and left his business to follow Jesus. I suppose he thought his life as a disciple was over, so he went right back to fishing.
If I were Jesus, I would have taken the moment to rebuke all of these disciples! What were they thinking? Hadn't they just seen the risen Savior? Didn't they remember what Jesus had told them to do? But Jesus just calmly instructed and challenged them again. He knew these men would, after being filled with His Spirit, soon change the world.
He challenged them again, "Follow Me." That challenge is for all of us today. The christian life is not about knowing what to do or where to go. It is not about having a set agenda to live for and a goal to pursue. It is about following Jesus every day.
Get following today.
I love how Jesus' command to follow Him is coupled with His constant pursuit of His disciples in placing Himself in their paths. When they wandered, He pursued. He was not at their beck and call. He is not at their mercy. He is not needy. But He loves dearly and tracks down rebellious hearts in tenderly shepherding them back to Himself by grace through faith in His pursuit of them.
ReplyDeleteThe disciples could have no other belief than this. They could certainly have not believed that it was their diligence loyalty, faith or works that gained them access to God.