Based on John 1:43-51 (New King James Version)
“The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’ And Nathanael said to him, ‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’ Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward Him, and said of him, ‘Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!’ Nathanael said to Him, ‘How do You know me?’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.’ Nathanael answered and said to Him, ‘Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!’ Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Because I said to you, ‘I saw you under the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these.’ And He said to him, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’”
God calls every person, and maybe in different ways, but with the same message: “Follow Me”. Nothing has changed. The “follow me” manifests itself in different ways. It might be with the dawn of a day. It might be with a baby’s pure and clean smile. It might be with the beauty of a flower. Everything talks about God; everything that was created. And the most natural question that should occur is: “Who is behind all of this?” And of course, God calls us in an obvious manner; through His Word, His Gospel, speaking to us about His love. God, through Jesus, came to make a personal invitation to each human being: “Follow Me”. They are very simple words, but extremely deep at the same time. They are words that can decide the eternity of each person. What does “follow me” mean? To follow the Lord implies to come after Him, to pursue Him, without really caring about where that road might take you, just like the disciples did. The Lord invited them to follow Him while they were working or doing other things. And at the moment He called them, they left everything in an instant. What is curious is that there was no deep preaching with eloquent words, or a dissertation that took hours, or trying to convince them for days or even months so they could make a decision. There was no well-organized service with elaborate graphics or digital images, or a theatrical presentation. There was no band, or piano or organ, or a choir signing in the background. There was no banquet or social entertainment to persuade them. And least of all, there wasn’t a person with fine clothes and a fancy building with a modern sound system, and central heating and cooling. The Lord just passed by them, looked at them, and said: “Follow Me”. Nothing more. So then, how were these people able to make such a decision in a spontaneous and definitive manner?
Many might say: “Well, it was God Himself that invited them.” And yes, but the Word of God is God Himself, and it does not matter who is mentioning it; of course, if we believe and respect the fact that the Word of God is just that. Others might say: “They were chosen and the elect of God.” And well, yes, but we also see that they were just like us, with the same flesh and blood, and similar characteristics. None of them had special powers or anything like that. There are others that might say that life was much simpler back then, and that they had the luxury of making such decisions, without too much to risk. A person that ignores history would have that opinion, but reality back then was much more difficult than today. To start, working (hard) assured food for that day only and nothing more, and certainly not for the next day. There were no work benefits like sick days, or vacation, or medical insurance, and least of all, a retirement plan. If they didn’t work that day, they couldn’t eat that day. And also, as Israelites, they were under the rule of the Roman Empire which subdued them and imposed required taxing. If they didn’t pay their taxes, they were simply put in jail, or enslaved (even more), or were killed. There was no financing available. People in today’s civilized countries don’t know nor have an idea of how hard life was back then. It was an extremely difficult life, with much more hardship than today. So then, what is the difference with the “follow me” between them and us?
As the Word says, there is nothing new under the sun, and we can explain it with another Bible passage: “Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, ‘Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?’ So Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’’ And he answered and said to Him, ‘Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.’ Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.’ But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.” Mark 10:17-22. The problem is that other things are taken more into consideration or valued more than God. Unfortunately, everything here is worth more than God to people. We live in a world that is rotten with idolatry, and unfortunately, idolatry is found everywhere, in every family, etc., since God is not “followed”.
To close, we will see the issue that occurs through this passage when you don’t pay attention to God as required, and when people live more in the vanity of this life: “There was a certain rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously every day. But there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, full of sores, who was laid at his gate, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried. And being in torments in Hades, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. ‘Then he cried and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us.’ ‘Then he said, ‘I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’” Luke 16:19-31. So then, if we follow Jesus, we will see God’s glory, sooner or later. But, if you follow the vanity of this illusionary world that we live in, sooner or later, you will not have a happy ending. Think and meditate in what you are doing with your life, because you never know what will happen and when. Lord bless! John