Following Jesus

Over the last years, I have heard a similar testimony from a number of people. Jesus appeared to them as in a vision and said just those two words, “Follow me”. Simple and incredibly powerful. They are amazing testimonies and, for the person who received them, life changing.

A couple of months ago, I sat with a man who had that same testimony. In his case, he had known Jesus earlier in his life, lost sight of Him and about six months ago, Jesus appeared to him. All Jesus said to him was “Follow me”.

He was deeply impacted, and his faith was rekindled. Then he started to tell me all these things that he had done since Jesus had invited to follow Him. He started going to a church again, picked up reading his Bible again, connected with a home group, started reading Christian books, attending Christian conferences. You name it, he was doing it.

Then I asked him: “What did Jesus ask you again? Follow me? How have you been going with that, following Jesus?” The penny dropped.

He realised that he had kept himself busy with doing all kind of good and valuable Christian activities. Fellowship with other Christians, reading his Bible, immersion in Christian books, all part of the Christian walk. But the invitation from Jesus was to follow Him. And to follow someone, you need to stop what you are doing, communicate, listen, look, engage, hold His hand, hold on to His robe, or whatever you need to do, so that you know where He is going so that you can follow Him. He had done a lot since his encounter with Jesus, but the “Follow me”, that, he had not done.

It gave him insight into why his walk with Jesus was not going as he had hoped. There had been very little of walking with Jesus. And walking with Jesus, that is where life is!

It makes me wonder how often we fill in our lives with activities we think are required of us as Christians and forget to follow Him, Jesus, the Giver of life. In the end, there is no life in doing stuff, but there is life in following Him. And that is the invitation to each one of us.

Follow me Jesus said to Levi. And Levi rose and follow Him.

For some it is easy to hear from Him, to receive from Him. For others it is like a skill we learn. As someone who is slightly hard of hearing, may I encourage you to take time to sit and listen for Him. It is well worth it. Jesus is full of life, and He never disappoints.