following Jesus

“Come follow me.” –Jesus

Jesus called people to follow Him. The Bible tells the story of four fisherman and their encounters with Jesus. He invited them, “Come follow me.”

We also read about a tax collector named Levi. Jesus encountered Levi while he was sitting in his tax booth and called out, “Follow me.” (There’s a whole cultural context and even a couple of big buts to discuss, but that’s a conversation for another time.)

I’m struck by the simplicity of Jesus’ calling people to follow him. He doesn’t hand out a list of prerequisites or qualifications; he doesn’t offer up a list of dos and don’ts. Just … “Follow me.”

“Come and you will see.”–Jesus

The Bible also tells the story of a rabbi named John who was teaching his students when he saw Jesus walking past. He encouraged his students to follow him. A couple of them did. Noticing them, Jesus asked what they wanted. They wondered where he was going. Jesus invited them, “Come and you will see.”

That phrase appears again, but this time it is a man named Phillip telling his friend Nathanael of the encounter he’d had with Jesus. And again, when a Samaritan woman shares of her meaningful encounter with Jesus. “Come and see,” they invited others. Essentially, ‘don’t take our word for it, come and see for yourself.’ (These stories also have deep cultural contexts and a few big buts to discuss elsewhere.)

I want to be like Phillip and the Samaritan woman in that they didn’t give anyone any particular steps to follow—they didn’t urge people to say a sinner’s prayer, or believe certain core doctrinal points, or go to this church or that one—but rather they urged people, “just check out this Jesus for yourself.”

If you’re reading these words right now, that’s all I’ll ever urge you to do. I’ll share my story and encourage you to follow Jesus and see for yourself.