Follow Me
Matthew 4:19 And he [Christ] said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." (ESV)
I remember hearing this call in my life. I was 9 and sitting in the front room of my parents home in Shelbina, MO. The youth pastor, Denny Daum, sat in the mustard colored swivel rocker and I on the footstool. I don't remember if it was spring or fall. I can't recall if it was sunny or cloudy. I can't remember if anyone else was present. But I remember in the moment of that conversation when I heard the call, the voice that pierces to the very core of who we are, the deep awakening of the dead man (or boy at the time) to come to life. In that moment of our conversation I realized I needed to repent and follow Christ Jesus. That walk ever since has been one of intrigue, difficulty, indelible grace, joy, peace, sorrow, grief, trial, tribulation, miracles, hope, and more than I would have ever imagined in my finite mind.
When Christ called me it was not to a building nor to a committee. Christ did not call me to sit and do nothing with this incredible gift of grace. His outpouring of grace, His ransom for me, paid by the shedding of His blood, was a call to a race by which I would go wherever He led - to follow Him. It was to be about Him and His kingdom and He was to become of utmost importance. I have often tried to flee His call. I have sinned and committed treason of the utmost against Him. I have lived my life according to the world and according to myself. I have dined on the world and lived in the flesh. Yet His call never ceased upon me. The more I would try and run the more I would keep running into Him and the offer of forgiveness, His infinite grace, because He would never flee from me. Though I tried to make it about me he continually reminded me it was about Him.
From where I sit today I see the futile ways of the flesh and who I once was - separated from Christ and lost. I thought I had it all figured out but my ways thankfully are not His ways and my thoughts, even more thankfully, are not His. When I was 9 I committed to follow Him, I felt the call into ministry then but years later I ran from Him, but He never ran. When He said come follow Me, He also said You are mine. Romans 8:38-39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. His call, 31 years ago, still rings true and today I look back and see my foolishness of trying to evade the Creator of the universe and I laugh. I could never outrun the one who called and chose me. Though I have missed the mark He continues His pursuit of me because His plan is greater than my own.
Are you trying to outrun God's call today? Perhaps it is a sinful lifestyle or a denial of Him? Maybe He has called you out of your current "job" and into His vocational work? We can try and run in many ways but deep inside you know what He is doing though you may try and outwardly deny it. You can never sin to the point that God will not redeem and forgive - his grace is deeper than your mistakes. You can never outrun Him for He is everywhere and desires to reconcile you, to forgive you, to show you grace, mercy and forgiveness. Do you hear Him calling "Follow me"? Stop and listen for His call today, stop running and listen.... "Follow Me".
I remember hearing this call in my life. I was 9 and sitting in the front room of my parents home in Shelbina, MO. The youth pastor, Denny Daum, sat in the mustard colored swivel rocker and I on the footstool. I don't remember if it was spring or fall. I can't recall if it was sunny or cloudy. I can't remember if anyone else was present. But I remember in the moment of that conversation when I heard the call, the voice that pierces to the very core of who we are, the deep awakening of the dead man (or boy at the time) to come to life. In that moment of our conversation I realized I needed to repent and follow Christ Jesus. That walk ever since has been one of intrigue, difficulty, indelible grace, joy, peace, sorrow, grief, trial, tribulation, miracles, hope, and more than I would have ever imagined in my finite mind.
When Christ called me it was not to a building nor to a committee. Christ did not call me to sit and do nothing with this incredible gift of grace. His outpouring of grace, His ransom for me, paid by the shedding of His blood, was a call to a race by which I would go wherever He led - to follow Him. It was to be about Him and His kingdom and He was to become of utmost importance. I have often tried to flee His call. I have sinned and committed treason of the utmost against Him. I have lived my life according to the world and according to myself. I have dined on the world and lived in the flesh. Yet His call never ceased upon me. The more I would try and run the more I would keep running into Him and the offer of forgiveness, His infinite grace, because He would never flee from me. Though I tried to make it about me he continually reminded me it was about Him.
From where I sit today I see the futile ways of the flesh and who I once was - separated from Christ and lost. I thought I had it all figured out but my ways thankfully are not His ways and my thoughts, even more thankfully, are not His. When I was 9 I committed to follow Him, I felt the call into ministry then but years later I ran from Him, but He never ran. When He said come follow Me, He also said You are mine. Romans 8:38-39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. His call, 31 years ago, still rings true and today I look back and see my foolishness of trying to evade the Creator of the universe and I laugh. I could never outrun the one who called and chose me. Though I have missed the mark He continues His pursuit of me because His plan is greater than my own.
Are you trying to outrun God's call today? Perhaps it is a sinful lifestyle or a denial of Him? Maybe He has called you out of your current "job" and into His vocational work? We can try and run in many ways but deep inside you know what He is doing though you may try and outwardly deny it. You can never sin to the point that God will not redeem and forgive - his grace is deeper than your mistakes. You can never outrun Him for He is everywhere and desires to reconcile you, to forgive you, to show you grace, mercy and forgiveness. Do you hear Him calling "Follow me"? Stop and listen for His call today, stop running and listen.... "Follow Me".
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