Dear Explorer,
Read Matthew 4:18-20
And
Read Mark 1:16-18
Now, we have already met these two. Andrew was a follower of John the Baptizer. He left John the Baptizer to follow Jesus and brought his brother Simon to meet Jesus. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter, and they began following Him – or did they? I don't know whether Andrew and Peter were called twice because they left Jesus to go home and fish, or whether they just met Jesus that first day and then He called them to follow Him on this day. This is another question we can ask Andrew and Peter when we get to Heaven!
What was Jesus' invitation to them?
What was their response when Jesus called them?
Read Matthew 4:21-22
And
Read Mark 1:19-20
This is the call of James and John. Both became apostles and later James was killed by Herod for being a follower of Jesus. John wrote the Gospel of John. He also wrote 3 letters that are included in the New Testament called 1 John, 2 John and 3 John. And he wrote the final book of the New Testament called Revelation while he was in exile for preaching about Jesus. But when Jesus first called him, he was just a lowly fisherman.
Don't forget that when you agree to follow Jesus, you begin an exciting adventure that will change everything! You cannot possibly imagine all the ways that God will use you if you allow Him to have complete control.
I was just a poor sharecropper's daughter in Arkansas. But I've sung God's songs from New York City to California. One day I even sang a solo at a special ceremony in NYC that was attended by Mayor Koch and lots of other dignitaries. Only God can arrange that!
I've taught Bible all over, too. One of my favorite memories is teaching Bible to a group of about 20 Stanford University graduate students. They were majoring in physics and aeronautics and engineering – working on their Ph.D.'s and this little uneducated Arkansas cotton picker was teaching them God's Word.
You just never know what God will do, where He will place you, or what you will be doing if you choose to follow where He leads!
Tomorrow we'll continue to look at the call of these 4 disciples from Luke's account.
In His service, dale
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