Follow Me Mark 1:17-18 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
In Mark 1:17-18, Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, “Follow me.” That’s the key for doing anything for Jesus. He said, “I” will make you (Mark 1:17). Men don’t make you; Jesus makes you. Then Jesus said, “to become.” In other words, to become what Jesus wants you to be is going to be a process of time and growth.
Jesus said I will make you to become “fishers of men.” Jesus took their talent for fishing and directed it into the ministry. He did this with Gene Sharp when he took a man who loved radio and sound and began using him for international radio ministries.
The disciples “forsook their nets.” This shows that you need to leave anything hindering you from following Jesus, whether it’s your wealth or your occupation or your family or what ever. And “they followed him.” So, Jesus says “follow me,” and to serve him you need to follow him.
In Matthew 9:9, Jesus said to Matthew, “follow me.” That’s how it starts for any disciple of Christ. In Matthew 16:24, Jesus said “if any man will come after me.” So, following Jesus Christ is necessary for any man that will serve him.
The rich young ruler was told to follow Jesus Christ in Matthew 19:21. His failure was that he would not follow Jesus and he wouldn’t forsake the thing that was hindering him from following. That’s the same problem the fellow had in Luke 9:59. He wouldn’t “follow me.” He wouldn’t forsake his family to follow the Lord.
The truth is that all Christians should follow Jesus (John 10:27). By following him we will be where we are supposed to be, when we are supposed to be there, doing what he wants us to do. And he will be with us (John 12:26).
You say, “Well, I haven’t been following Jesus.” Okay then, you’re like Peter after he denied Jesus Christ. The solution is still the same for us as it was for him. In John 21:19-22, Jesus told Peter, “follow me.“ So, if you have not been following Jesus Christ, start following him now.
Jesus knows that it is hard to follow somebody that you cannot see. Of course, we follow Jesus Christ by following his words. However, the Lord knows that we need an example, someone to follow. To accomplish this, God also gives you men to follow (1 Cor 4:15-16). Men who are following Jesus Christ are men that you can follow (1 Cor 11:1). Look what Paul told the Philippians in Phil 3:17; 4:9. When you follow men who are following the Lord, you follow the Lord (1 Thes 1:6).
If God gives you a man to follow, he is not going to have the person you’re following going in one direction and you in another. You are both supposed to be following the Lord. Bryan Boatman followed us in the ministry here for more than 15 years as the Lord prepared him for pastoring in Beeville. When it came time for him to pastor there, he had followed us right into the plan that God had for his life. Joel Dunbar followed Pastor Harley Keck in Green Bay for nearly 15 years preparing for the mission field in Brazil. He transitioned right into following Bro. Matthews on that field to continue becoming the missionary that God has been training him to be.
Conclusion: Serving Jesus is following Jesus and following the man that he puts in your life to train you to become the servant that he wants you to become. The problem with many Christians is that are not following Jesus. Or they are hindered by something that they must forsake. Or they’re not following the person Jesus has given them to follow (Eph 4:11).
Start following Christ. Let go of the thing that is hindering you from following him. And follow the person he has given you to follow.