We all follow someone. Either on Facebook, in the news, maybe your favorite motivational speaker, podcast, or musician. Even as Christians, we tend to follow a particular theology. So, who are you following these days?
Today, we are going to see why it is so important to know who you are following.
If you remember, the last few weeks, we have been talking about those people looking for Jesus. The Magi, Herod, Simeon and others all knew He was coming. Scriptures even prophesied about it. But no one knew when.
Even last week, we read about John the Baptist proclaiming His coming. As he baptized individuals with water, he was getting us ready for the One who would baptize with The Holy Spirit.
Let’s pick up in John 1, where “the next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”
37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?”
They said, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.”
So they went and saw where he was staying, and they spent that day with him. It was about four in the afternoon.
40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ). 42 And he brought him to Jesus.
Isn’t this what we do? Someone we know and admire, points us to the next best thing. We are intrigued, so we go and check them out. However, for these disciples, this is not the day of Facebook. These students of John’s teaching had to literally follow Jesus home that day. After doing so, they told those closest to them about Him.
Why would they do this? Well, John, their teacher, had been telling them about this “Jesus”, about The One that would come after him. And now, here He is. They have the chance to get to know him for themselves. So Jesus invited them, “Come and see.” And they went! After that, the very next thing they did, was to go and tell their brother. They brought him to Jesus so he too, could see for himself. I think there is a formula here.
Let’s break it down;
- Be aware of who you are following.
- Surround yourself with people you admire and trust so that they can point you in the right direction.
- Be brave enough to follow someone different. These guys had been following John and his teaching for a long time. Now, they had to trust John and be courageous enough to change.
- Accept the invitation. When Jesus said, “come and see” they took him up on it. They did not wait until the next day. They went right then and there.
- Share what you discover. After they spent the afternoon with Jesus, they went and told others.
- Show them. They even went so far as to take them to Jesus so they could see for themselves.
This same invitation is available for us today. We know all about Jesus from the scriptures. So did they. They knew of Him. But did they know Him? Do you? No matter where you are in your relationship with God, you can always go deeper. Maybe it is time to come and see for yourself who Jesus is. Maybe it is time to really get to know Him.
Most of us have to see things for ourselves in order to believe them. Lucky for those disciples, they had John pointing them to Jesus. It is important to surround yourself with others that can point you in the right direction as well. Once you decide to follow Jesus, and get to know Him, then you can begin pointing others to Him as well. Isn’t that what we are really here for?
So who are you following? And who’s following you? Make sure everything you do is pointing to Jesus.
Let us pray;
Jesus, Jesus Jesus, thank you for baptizing us with your precious Holy Spirit. Remind us who You are in us. Help us to be brave enough to follow You and tell others of your amazing love. Amen.
P.S. Leave me a comment below because I always love hearing from you. Start pointing others to Jesus. Forward this message to a friend that might need to “come and see” who He is today. Post on Facebook and tag me in. Until next time, don’t miss the song below. If you can’t see it, open this message from your browser. -M
