The joy of following Jesus 

“Follow me,” [Jesus] told them, “and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with Zebedee their father, preparing their nets, and he called them.

Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-22)

I wonder. How did Peter, Andrew, James, and John feel when Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people?”

Inadequate? Unqualified? Scared?

Perhaps. But somehow, I think they were mostly filled with overwhelming awe and joy.

“Me? Jesus would choose me?”

And so filled with awe and joy, they immediately dropped their nets, left their family business, and followed Jesus.

They weren’t thinking, “Follow Jesus? I’d have to give up so much!”

They were thinking, “I get to follow Jesus! I get to join in his work! This is awesome!”

Often times, though, when we think about following Jesus, about joining in with his work, we feel uneasy. “I’m inadequate. I’m unqualified.”

Or we feel burdened by the “have tos.”

I know I sometimes feel that way.

But Jesus deeply loves us. And knowing everything about us with all our weaknesses and failings, he still looks at us and says, “Follow me. Come. Join me in my work.”

That’s the joy of following Jesus. It’s an awesome privilege that he gives us.

Following Jesus and joining in his work isn’t about the burden of the “have tos.”

It’s the overwhelming joy of the “get tos.”

How about you? Do you know that joy?