Are You Fulfilled in Life?

There are many people today looking for meaning and purpose. They are seeking to find fulfillment in life. I believe the way to find all of the afore mentioned is to answer the call of Christ. In the following text, Jesus clearly invites Simon and Andrew to “follow Him.” In the next couple of posts I would like to examine what it means to follow Jesus and what does it require of us. One thing is for sure…when we answer the call…it will be awesome!

(v. 16-18) As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fisherman. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.

I always thought this story was peculiar, because it sounds like Jesus called out to two complete strangers to follow him, and they dropped everything, and began walking in his direction with their stuck straight out in front of them, like in a science fiction movie. This isn't how it was. Jesus wasn't a stranger in this region, and he probably wasn't a stranger to Simon and Andrew. He had been connected to the ministry of John the Baptist and had been preaching in the area for a while, and there's no reason not to think that Simon and Andrew were already familiar with him. I say this because I want you to realize that their decision to follow Jesus was not that much different than ours. He called to them like he calls to you today. It is in answering that call that we fully discover who Jesus is. We can know him only casually from a distance. We can know him only slightly through books. We really get to know him by following him.

What Does It Means to Follow? (v. 17) "Come, follow me," Jesus said. This is different than what you would expect from a mere prophet. They most often said, "Follow God...Follow the way of righteousness...Follow the Law." Jesus said, "Follow me." It's an important distinction, for a couple of reasons. One, Jesus is establishing himself as a leader, as an authority. Two, Jesus is making it clear that the life of discipleship is not a life of just thinking and knowing and discussing ideological principles, it's a life of living them out. When Jesus said, "Follow me" he was saying, "Go where I go, do what I do, talk like I talk, live like I live." He's inviting us to imitate him. We need to remember that living the Christian life has a lot to do with just trying to be like Christ.