Follow Me

Today’s Passage: Mark 1:16–20

It is a working morning on the Sea of Galilee, and two pairs of brothers are out fishing, the way their fathers did before them. Then Jesus walks by and says a few plain words that change everything.

As you read, hold this: Jesus calls ordinary people at their nets. He does the making.

Mark 1:16–18 (BSB)

¹⁶ As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. ¹⁷ “Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” ¹⁸ And at once they left their nets and followed Him.

Watch the order of it. Jesus walks, Jesus sees, and Jesus speaks, and Simon and Andrew have done nothing at all to earn any of it. The call simply finds them at work, smelling like fish and lake water, and that is where it meets most of us too.

The call also comes with a promise: I will make you fishers of men. Jesus does not throw away who they already are. He takes their skill with nets and turns it toward people instead. Their part is a single word, come, and His part is everything else, I will make you. They will not become fishers of men by trying harder at the nets, but by staying on His road and letting Him do the making.

Verse 18 gives us the day’s word. At once they left their nets and followed (ἀκολουθέω) akoloutheō, pronounced ah-ko-loo-THEH-oh. Strong's G190, to follow, walk the same road behind someone. To follow here means walking the same road right behind someone. It is not waving to Him from the beach or admiring Him from far away. It means stepping onto His road and going wherever He goes. , and just like that they were on His road.

Mark 1:19–20 (BSB)

¹⁹ Going on a little farther, He saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat, mending their nets. ²⁰ Immediately Jesus called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed Him.

A little farther down the beach the same thing happens again. He sees them, He calls them, and they follow.

James and John leave their father sitting in the family boat. Zebedee still has the boat and his hired men, and the business will go on without them, but from this morning on Jesus comes first.

So four ordinary men are now walking behind Jesus. They do not yet know where the road will take them, but they know who is leading, and they know He has promised to do the making.

Personal Application

1. Where are you trying to make yourself ready before you follow, as though the boat has to be tidy before you step onto His road?

2. If Jesus is the one who does the making, what is the next step behind Him that He is asking of you today?

Today’s decision: Name one thing Jesus is asking you to leave behind or step into, and take the first small step toward it today, not someday.

Pray to Close

The central truth: Jesus calls ordinary people at their nets. He does the making.

Give thanks: thank God that Jesus sees people at their ordinary work and calls them before they have earned a thing.

Ask: ask Him for the courage to take the next step behind Him, and to trust that He is the one doing the making.

Confess: tell Him about the tight grip on your own nets, and the days you have admired Him from a distance without walking behind Him.

Worship for Today

Song: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, traditional hymn

No one knows for certain who first sang this hymn, though tradition says it came from a believer in India who paid a great price for following Jesus. It is about the simplest vow a Christian can sing: I have decided, and I am not turning back. Sing it as your own answer to the call that found four fishermen at their nets.

Listen:

• I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, CeCe Winans (official lyric video)
• I Have Decided to Follow Jesus, Lydia Walker (lyric video)