A Follower by Pastor Bob Coy

Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." 
-Matthew 4:19 (NKJV)

A FOLLOWER
by Pastor Bob Coy of Calvary Chapel Fort Lauderdale

The disciples were a diverse cast of characters. There was Peter, boisterous and blunt. There was John, sensitive and sublime. There was Simon, the zealot, who was committed to the cause of rebelling against the Romans. Then there was Matthew, the tax collector, who was committed to collaborating with Rome.

Yet there was something they all had in common. They were all called at some point or another to follow. Jesus didn't leave them where they were when He encountered them. Instead, He invited them to drop what they were doing and follow Him.

For Matthew, it was his collection table. For Peter, it was his fishing business. Each one had to leave a lifestyle and an identity, all for the purpose of pursuing Christ's presence. And they did, as evidenced by the fact that we primarily know them as "disciples" (which literally means "learner-follower"), not as tax collectors and fishermen.

Just as Jesus called his disciples to follow after Him, He does the same with us. In the process, He calls us to lay down those things from which we derive our sense of identity so that our identity is found in Him. It's probably not a tax collector's table or a fishing net, but it might be a prestigious title, a car, or an image that says, "Check me out. This is who I am."

More than anything else, God wants us to be His followers. But for this to happen, we must be willing to set aside certain things so we can be in His presence. Then, and only then, will others identify us as disciples.

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