“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men’” (Mark 1:17, NKJV).
Did Jesus tell these men, “Follow Me, and I will teach you how to improve yourselves”? Nope. He said, “Follow Me, and I will make you…”
Jesus is the One who makes us into what we were born to be. We don’t do that for ourselves. Yes, we do have a part to play. It’s quite simple. It’s encapsulated in His simple invitation: “Follow Me.” That’s it. He invites, we respond. He leads, we follow. He carries us, we nestle in. He empowers, we yield. He transforms us, we let Him.
Every morning when we wake up, Jesus reaches out for us. “Follow Me today,” He beckons. He reaches out His hand welcomingly for us to take. “I have a perfect plan for the hours ahead. Will you spend them leaning into Me?”
His presence is so inviting. Clearly, those fishermen that He summoned that day were captivated by it. There was something extraordinarily compelling about the way He spoke to them. They had never met Him before. But just one look from His eyes, just one word from His mouth – and they dropped their entire lives and went after Him.
He said, “I will make you…” They believed Him.
That day, they began to keep company with Him. After that, they never stopped. From that moment forward, they were in His presence. His presence transformed them. His presence made them into the vessels they were created to be. What was written about them in His book before the beginning of the world about them… unfolded beautifully as they simply stayed near Him. He made them into the men that He foresaw before time began.
Here is the “after” picture. After living in His presence for three and a half years, they were radically different men. Here is a portrait of their upgraded lives, from the perspective of those around them: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13, NKJV).
They had become. Jesus had made them into the men they were meant to be all along. His presence had been the incubator that protected and fostered the development of their destiny. His intimate company had shaped these uneducated, untrained men into vessels that caused men to marvel and brought Him unending glory.
Do you, too, long for the fullness of the destiny that He has inscribed into your very DNA? Then take His outstretched hand today. Follow Him. Spend the day with Him, and every day after this. Lean into Him. Keep intimate company with Him. He will make you into the person you were born to be.
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Can you imagine the moment of Jesus’ invitation to Simon, Andrew, James, and John? What was it that impelled them to respond so immediately?
Feeding On Jesus 
What was it….? Was it the purest form of love they had ever seen or heard ? Was it the glimpse of God the Father ? Was it the destiny He had planned for them ? I believe it was this and so much more that can not even be put into words. Can we, today, look into the eyes of Jesus ? Can we hear His precious words spoken ? YES! I must say YES!
Jesus called out to the Father, just as we are ONE, I pray that they may be one with us. Let us look away from those things that occupy our lifes and gaze into the precious eyes of Christ Jesus. Let us stop the noise of this world and focus on the voice of the Spirit within. Following after HIM will become our greatest passion and desire. Amen Len Wisniewski
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Amen and amen! There is no one more lovely than Him, nothing more enthralling than looking into His face and beholding His glory and grace! Once again, thank you for your thoughts, Len. Rich blessings 🙂
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I think it’s interesting that – for the fishermen at least – Jesus met them where they were and spoke of things they understood. They understood fishing. They’d just transfer their skills to a heavenly endeavor. He took Saul’s passion and used it for His kingdom. I think in each of us, there is a God-given seed that makes us passionate about something – writing, creating, organizing, encouraging, whatever. God leans in and says, “Yep! We’re going to make great use of that passion.” It what we’re set apart for, what we’re anointed for, and I think that’s why it’s easier for us than trying to be what we’re not called to be – like me working in the nursery! 🙂 (Not a good fit!) I’ve been thinking a lot about his simple invitation to “Follow me.” Thanks!
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LaRonda, this is most wonderful insight! You are so right about this! He did indeed put the seeds of our destiny into our hearts and our natural-born abilities and enjoyments. As we follow Him, He takes those seeds and causes them to flourish! Thank you so much for bringing out this important nuance, which adds so much to understanding the story. Blessings and love!
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Thank you sincerely for these seeds of insight in this post. I believe that the seeds of our future potential (Godly) were placed in us from conception and it is only when we make the choice to follow Christ (providing of course we ‘surrender’ to Him totally can he then make us into His perfect plan for our lives.(In His Image).
Often we can’t always know or see because some of life’s turns, twists, valleys and hills blur the image. That’s why it is ‘faith’ alone that enables us to simply ‘Follow Him!’. Lots to think about with this post. Again thank you.
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You are so right, Faye. Surrender to Him is a centrally important ingredient to becoming who we were born to be. It’s as we surrender that He can transform us. Which is why He tells us not to be like the mule! 😀 Thank you so much for sharing your insight ❤
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You are so right, Faye. Surrender to Him is a centrally important ingredient to becoming who we were born to be. It’s as we surrender that He can transform us. Which is why He tells us not to be like the mule! 😀 Thank you so much for sharing your insight ❤
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