“Come, follow me.” These words to follow were a continued
refrain from the lips of Jesus. He said them when calling his disciples
(Matthew 4:19). He said them to the rich young man who wanted to know how to
inherit eternal life (Mark 10:21). He said them to a tax collector (Luke 5:27).
He said them to his disciple Peter after being raised to life after his death
on the cross (John 21:19). And he says those same words to us.
Jesus desires to be with us. He wants to walk with us. He
wants to teach us. He wants us to know him. He wants relationship with us. We
want relationships too. It is knit into each one of our hearts. We seek it in
all kinds of ways, good ways – romantically, with friends, with family. And
yet, so often we don’t seek it in the greatest way – with Jesus.
We need relationship with Jesus. A truth that Pastor Tim
Keller points out, that I have noted in a previous post too, is that we are
utterly alone in the world without him. At any moment, anyone we are in
relationship with here could die, and each of us will go alone when it is our
time. That is, unless we have Jesus. The God who has conquered death. The God
who promises not to leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5).
A relationship with Jesus does something else too. It adds a
whole new dimension to our relationships on earth. When we are with a friend or
a relative or a spouse that is following Jesus. We know that, even if we or
they do die, we need not fear because a future, eternal reuniting awaits. I
love what a pastor from Kenya said to my mission team as we boarded a bus to
head back to the capital city of Nairobi in 2016, “See you again, if not in
this life, then surely in the next.”
A relationship with Jesus is amazing because he is a God
that draws near to us and even knows what it is like to be human. He knows what
it is like to feel the pain we feel. Are you mourning? Jesus mourns with us
(John 11:35). Have you been betrayed by a friend? So has Jesus (Mark 14:44-46).
Are you homeless? So was Jesus (Matthew 8:20). Are you on the brink of death?
Jesus not only was, but did die, and rose again (Mark 14:36; Mark 15:39; Mark
16:6).
We have a love letter too – the Bible. It starts out with
God creating people that he loves in Genesis. Then in the Garden, we turned
away from him. God didn’t though; he still loved us. The rest of the Bible is
him in pursuit of us. He is saying, “I love you and I am coming for you.” He
wants us back. He loves us that much. That is why Jesus came. He came to make a
way for us to come back to God. With the way made, he knocks at the door (Revelation
3:20). He is not forceful. He knocks. He waits. He calls out, “Come, follow
me.” Will you open the door, will you let him in, will you heed the call, and
follow?
