As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he
saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea, for they were
fishers. And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers
of people." And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he
went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who
were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them, and they left
their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
As he was walking along, he saw Levi son
of Alphaeus sitting at the tax-collection station, and he said to him,
"Follow me." And he got up and followed him.
Recently I helped lead an adult class in an intergenerational Bible School at my grandson's church in Iowa. We talked about the disciples of Jesus and one of questions we asked was, "What if Jesus ran a want ad in the local paper to find his disciples?" What would it say? Their responses were the following:
- Wanted persons willing to make a 3 year or longer commitment to follow me.
- Wanted persons willing to participate in personal spiritual growth.
- Wanted persons willing to travel long distances by foot.
- Wanted persons willing to learn about the kingdom of heaven.
- Wanted persons willing to participate with the Rabbi (teacher) working long hours with multitudes of people.
- Wanted persons who believe in miracles.
- Wanted persons who are willing to do my bidding.
- Wanted persons who believe in me.
- Wanted persons who are willing to take risks and hardships to be one of my disciples.
It was a good discussion. Then I thought about this list and how it might pertain to today's Christians. Review the list and consider how you would answer the want ad to be a disciple of Christ.
Prayer: Dear Jesus, thank you for challenging us to be one of your disciples. Thank you for your invitation to "follow me". Help us to live up to the high standards of your call for discipleship. Amen
Nancy Hall
No comments:
Post a Comment