Daily Devotions
Mark
Day 25
Text: Mark 1 "Receiving at the end of your faith- the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:9
THE CALLING OF DISCIPLES
The message of the Gospel of the kingdom of God was just too precious not to proclaim it far and wide. Jesus would be hard put, if he were to continue to do the work of proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom of God on His own. In His wisdom, Jesus executed a special plan. He would call people to follow Him as His disciples. He would then proceed to train them to effectively proclaim the Gospel! (We have the advantage of hindsight and so we can appreciate how this plan panned out. But there and then, this plan would not have been much appreciated).
“And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee,
He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea;
for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them,
‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’
They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”MARK 1:16-18
“He saw Simon and Andrew…”
Mark in his own special way described the power that Jesus possessed.
1. He was able to see beyond their humble backgrounds.
2. He was able to see beyond their present capacities to serve (they were only fishermen).
3. He saw His Father’s plan to choose the “foolish to confound the wise” .
“Follow Me and I will make you become fishers of men”
The secret of successful discipleship probably lies in our comprehension of these words of Jesus.
1. The call or invitation is graciously extended.
2. The heart must first comprehend the commitment necessary to “follow Jesus”.
3. The mind must be able to grasp the significance of what Jesus offered to do.
a) He would transform them
b) He would make them over… till they were able to become fishers of men.
c) There was no curriculum… there was only one Lesson… summarised in two words “Follow Me”.
THE ONLY APPROPRIATE RESPONSE
Simon and Andrew responded whole-heartedly. They left all and followed Jesus!