By

Geneva Bookman

 Then He said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”.

Although Peter and his brother Andrew were very much in the middle of fulfilling their obligations to their occupations, “They immediately left their nets and followed Him” [Matthew 4:19-20].

With Peter and Andrew in tow Jesus proceeded to disperse yet another calling on two other brothers, James and John. Scripture says:

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them... [Matthew 4:21].

We see these two men who not only were engaged in their life’s work but whom were also apparently obligated to helping their father Zebedee with earning a living and perhaps feeding the family of which they were both a part. What a scene this must have been when these two followed the suite of Peter and Andrew “and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him”. [Matthew 4:22].

“Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” “But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” [Matthew 8:21-22].

To fully understand the importance of immediately yielding to Christ we must first understand that Jesus knew this disciple was not asking for a lot of time as we think of burials and funerals today. Jesus knew the customary urgency of burying the dead particularly in Middle Eastern climates. Embalming (the method of preserving human remains) although readily known to be used in Egyptian culture was not a practice used in His culture. Burial was therefore of the utmost urgency. This example must therefore have been recorded so that we understand that we are not to hesitate not even for a millisecond in doing what He tells us to do.

How often have we as parents become upset with our children’s disobedience when they don’t do what we tell them to do immediately? We should understand then why timing is significant with God our Father.

We see recorded also in Luke 9:59-60 Jesus’ encounter with this disciple who felt the need to take a quick u-turn. Here it is included with an additional command to “go and preach the kingdom of God”. This disciple seemed to truly desire to follow Jesus in similar fashion as we so often do. However like us he might have felt justified in having our Lord wait just a little while as he attended to this very important family duty. Too often we are guilty of the same attitude. We sometimes confuse what is important to God with what we think is just plain important. Family responsibilities are no more important to us than they were to James, John, Peter or Andrew. Yet they obeyed the call without turning back.

Perhaps some of us think that as wives and mothers we are not called upon to follow Him with the same degree of urgency because our responsibilities are of course different from the duties God assigns to men. However, surely He expects no less of us when He says “follow me” to immediately teach that children’s Bible class or to work with visitations. Perhaps we hesitate to step outside our comfort zones in order to get to know a sister in the congregation who we have just met in passing. As women we tend to be sensitive and reminiscent. This is not necessarily a negative trait especially since God Himself assigned it to us with a purpose. Some of us don’t let go easily even when we’ve experienced hurt or disappointment. We tend to hold on to these feelings sometimes especially in our Christian relationships. That same sensitivity, however, can be used by the enemy, the Devil, to keep us from moving forward. We may be tempted to hold onto the memory of something negative we experienced while working as a teacher or with that Ladies Day program. We might hesitate or even quit. Jesus compared those who want to cling to something in their past instead of doing His will as being like Lot’s wife. [Luke 17:31-33].

I witnessed an example of how looking back, no matter how brief, can not only keep us from moving forward but can also be dangerous. One day as I sat stalled in traffic on the interstate. As I sat there in the East bound lane listening to the radio I wondered how the accident that occurred in the West bound lanes could completely stall traffic in every lane including the Frontage roads. Then over the radio came a plea from the Highway Patrol for all drivers to stop “rubber necking”, (that is looking back at the accident scene) as these brief hesitations were causing “slow ups”, “tie downs” and even other accidents. Yet, as I approached the accident I realized just how difficult a task it was to not linger just for a quick glance. If I had not heard the plea over the radio I would have thought, what could one quick glance by one little old driver hurt? Just like the Highway Patrol, God told Lot’s family to not look back. Even though only one in the group (his wife) looked back, what awful slow ups, tie downs and disaster resulted from that one brief hesitation we read about in Genesis 19:15-38. We must trust that the same God who created us and provides us with good things surely must understand the difficult task He assigns us when he says, “Follow Me”, “Don’t Look Back”; or “My God Will Supply All Your Need According To His Riches In Glory By Christ Jesus”[Philippians 4:19].