Lay leader, Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills
In the Nov. 5 column, I pointed out the importance of the word “come” in the Bible. The frequent invitation to “come” holds the idea of promise; there is always some reward or incentive for responding.
The word also includes the element of relationship; it is an appeal to begin or develop a relationship with the one who calls. Then there is the third element of the challenge. To respond to the call to “come” we have to leave our comfortable spot and move to wherever the one calling us is leading, which brings us to the fourth aspect of the call.
The call to “come” always contains the element of adventure. When Jesus calls us to follow Him, He doesn’t tell us where He is going or all that He plans to do.
When the earliest disciples asked Jesus where He was staying He said, “Come and you will see” (John 1:39). When Nathanael had questions about Jesus, Philip said, “Come and see” (John 1:46). During Jesus’ first conversation with Nathanael, Jesus impressed Nathanael with His insight. Nathanael was amazed and exclaimed, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” Jesus replied, “You will see greater things than these” (John 1:47–51).
Jesus changed Simon’s name to Peter. He told Simon Peter and his brother, Andrew, that if they followed Him, He would make them fishers of men (Mark 1:17). He took a man whose life was filled with demons and a woman who had had five husbands and gave them both a fresh story to tell about how Jesus had changed their lives (Mark 5 and John 4). He turned a violent persecutor of Christians into a man who could say, “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
If you respond to the call to come to Jesus, what will He do with your life? I don’t have a clue but I know it will be good. That’s the thrill of it. Come — join the adventure of following Jesus.
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