Read
Jesus' Proposition to Follow Him
In Mark 1:16-20, the account of Jesus gathering His first followers is recorded. It's in this text that we see two pairs of brothers called to become the first disciples: Simon and Andrew, then James and John.
Jesus approaches them and finds them all doing something that related to their occupation of fishing. Simon and Andrew are casting their nets into the sea, and a little further down the coast He sees James and John washing their nets. Pretty typical scenes for an area full of fishermen.
What isn't typical is what Jesus proposes upon arriving at the job sites of these brothers. Upon seeing Simon and Andrew as they cast out their nets, Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." It can only be imagined that Jesus says something very similar to James and John when it says He "called them." What is it Jesus is actually proposing? Jesus is proposing to completely alter their lives. They will no longer spend their days on the sea seeking out the hidden swarms below the waters, but will be spending their time on land seeking out the truest hearts of people all around them. While they didn't understand every detail about Jesus' proposition, they make no hesitation to heed the call!
You and I need to be more like these brothers. Did you know Jesus calls us to follow Him, just as He called these brothers? Jesus said, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me" (Matthew 16:24). You may be thinking this doesn't look like the same proposition that was offered to Simon, Andrew, James and John. Well, it is.
In what ways did Simon, Andrew, James, and John have to "deny himself"? Here are three fundamental ways that they had to deny what they may have wanted to do to follow Jesus instead. First, they quit their jobs to become what would amount to traveling street preachers. Second, they left their homes to roam around the countryside without anything remotely close to a bed or a house to call their own. Third, they left their families to spend their time with an unknown assortment of strangers who would also be following Jesus. If you were to voluntarily give up your livelihood, your home, and your family, it's likely that you could honestly say you'd denied yourself everything.
In what ways did they each have to "take up his cross"? First of all, we need to know what this means. The cross was a Roman death tool. It specialized in killing someone painfully, shamefully, and publicly. This is exactly how Jesus was killed. So for Jesus to say that those who follow Him have to carry this, He is saying that following Him is going to involve those same types of things. So, how did Simon, Andrew, James and John do that? I have no doubt that just as Jesus was ridiculed in His ministry, so were these four as well. After Jesus took on His own cross and was killed, these four continued to preach and teach about Jesus. They had to endure injury, insults, and shame being thrown at them. Eventually, according to history, Simon, Andrew, and James were killed for being followers of Jesus, with only John escaping martyrdom but living out the last of his years in exile due to being a follower of Jesus.
So really, Jesus' proposition has always been the same. Are you willing to give up everything you have and everything you've ever known to follow Jesus? Are you willing to endure pain and shame just to follow Jesus? If not, you can't follow Jesus. And following Jesus is the only way to the Father and to eternal life (John 14:6). If you are willing, then begin following Him by reading His word and living it out! Not only will following Jesus lead you to the Father and eternal life, but will also allow you to help those around you become followers as well. Just as Jesus promised, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
