“And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.” Matthew 4:21-22
Imagine you are at the job, sitting in your office, a man walks by, looks at you, and says, "Follow Me". You don't know him, you don't know where he's going, what his plans are, who he claims to be. You're making $100k a year, with insurance, benefits, 4 weeks vacation each year, a family of 5 relying on your income daily - bills, school, food, gas, etc. Does all of this cross your mind, or do you stand up and follow? What does it mean to follow Christ?
Jesus walked the earth for 33 years (+/-), as stated by several historians and bible scholars. Very little was known about his first 30 years, other than he was born in Bethlehem, escaped to Egypt, and was then raised in Nazareth. We are told of his visit to the Temple in Jerusalem at the age of 12, but we aren't made aware of any other visits around the countryside of Israel during his upbringing. His Earthly father-figure was Joseph, a carpenter from Nazareth, so we can only assume that he likely worked in his father's business. How often was he ever seen around the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Bethany, Bethsaida, Cana, the Jordan River, or any other Israeli village at that time? No one knows for sure. It's likely that as he grew and matured, he would not have been well known in other areas of the country, but perhaps in and around his village. So, it's very likely that James and John had never met this man previously in their life. He was very much a stranger to them. It is also likely that they were patiently waiting for "the One", "the Messiah" to come and save them from the oppression under the Roman rulers at that time.
Here we are in the 21st century. We could certainly look at the powers of this world, governments, businesses, social media, financial institutions, oil companies, etc., and say we are all held subject to their control as well. I can personally say that there are days when I long for Jesus to come back, to break these chains, and bring an end to the evil in this world. I sympathize with where John, James, Andrew, Peter, Phillip, Nathaniel, and the other disciples were at that time.
So, back to the question, would I be willing to walk away from everything, yes - everything, I have in this world and follow him if he asked me to? The benefits in the big picture far outweigh any benefits I could find in this life. I mean no offense to my wife, my parents, my children, my grandchildren, my family, and my friends, but Jesus' promise of eternal life with God, the Son, and the Saints is so unimaginable that there is nothing in this life worth more. In that realm, there is no death, no pain, no evil, no bills, no fear, no worry, no sin. We are at peace with the Father and in His presence always. We long and want for nothing but to bring glory to Him.
It's hard to comprehend all of this with our limited human brain capability, but the promise is unbelievable and amazing. When it all comes down to it, though, I look around me, sitting here at my keyboard, and struggle with the answer to the question above. We have been conditioned to be successful, wealthy, and in control of this life. By accepting his proposal, we immediately give that up. We are then bound to a faith and trust in Him for everything from that point forward. This is scary for most of us and keeps us from truly living out his plans in our lives. Serving God means sacrificing ourselves and giving it all to Him. Our ego, our pride, our self-centeredness keep us from fully committing, and my gut tells me that most of us would not stand up and walk away from it all. If you are one who will, then I pray you are protected from the enemy and his minions, for they are targeting you dearly.
Stepping into full discipleship is not for the weak at heart, but the results on the other side will be tremendous. Carefully pray about what is holding you back, and then determine if it is worth missing out on His plan in your life or not. Be blessed, my friends.
