Follow Me

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 ‘Follow me’ – Luke 5:27

In Luke’s gospel chapter nineteen, we are introduced to a short fellow by the name Zacchaeus. He was a well known wealthy, chief tax collector in town. As Jesus was passing through the streets of Jericho, Zacchaeus heard of him and desired to know who Jesus was. Luke 19:3 reads that, “He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.”

The story of Zacchaeus is one we can easily relate to. Zacchaeus had a longing to know Jesus. Deep inside him, he must have had the desire to have a personal experience with Jesus. Like Zacchaeus, we all have a void deep in our spirit. That void can only be filled by the Spirit of God; hence the desire to worship.

Zacchaeus had the desire to know Jesus; however, he had a ‘BUT’ in front of him that was stopping him. Like Zacchaeus we all want to know who Jesus is, we want to experience him, there’s a desire to learn from him, and walk according to his ways, BUT… What comes after the word ‘BUT’ are the things that keep stopping us from fully knowing Jesus and developing a personal relationship with Him.

We read in Luke 19:3 that Zacchaeus wanted to know Jesus, but he couldn’t do so because he was short. Some of us are at that point where Zacchaeus was, you may say, ‘I want to know Jesus, but I don’t have the time. Or I want to become a Christian but my family won’t approve of it. Or I want to follow Jesus but people will talk bad about me. Or I want to follow Jesus but I don’t know whether I make the cut because of so many sins that I have committed.’

If that’s you then this is what Jesus says about you: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” – Luke 19:10. Jesus is calling all of us to come to him. He specifically came to earth for people like you and me. Those that are considered lost, those who’ve made mistakes in life, those who societies have cast away, he came for the sinners. You don’t have to let the ‘BUT’ in front of you stop you from answering his call on your life.

Perhaps you are afraid that the world will persecute you because you chose to follow Jesus. Remember what Jesus says about this is John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” For so long we have fixed our eyes on this world hence our lives follows the pattern of this world. On the other hand, Jesus is calling us back to the Father in heaven. He wants us to fix our eye on Him, to follow Him and to live according to the ways which God commanded. By choosing to follow Jesus, we are turning away from sin and turning towards Jesus Christ.

Zacchaeus knew that he couldn’t see Jesus over the crowd, so he decided to run ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to see Jesus. Lucky for him, Jesus was coming down that direction. Jesus upon reaching the place where Zacchaeus was, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” Luke 19:5.

It is active faith that makes great things happen. Zacchaeus knew that he couldn’t see Jesus from the point where he was in the crowd that’s why he ran ahead and climbed a tree. When Jesus saw all that Zacchaeus had done, he recognized his active faith and the desire to see him. Not only did Zacchaeus have the opportunity to host Jesus at his house, he received salvation. If Zacchaeus’ faith was passive, he wouldn’t have run ahead of the crowd and climbed a tree in order to see Jesus he would have given up and gone back home because he was short.

It is good to have the desire to know Christ, wanting to experience Christ and learning from him; but there’s need to make one step further. Like Zacchaeus, we need also to put our faith in action and go before God and repent. Not just that, we also need to acknowledge that Jesus is our Lord and Savior when we stand before people. Jesus says, “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 10:32.

As Jesus called his disciples saying, ‘Follow Me’, that call is extended to you and I. Today is the day we can answer Jesus’ call on our lives and accept to follow Him. There is a greater reward when we choose to follow Christ and be more like him. Luke 18:29, “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in his age, and in the age to come eternal life.”

It is my prayers that we can all come to Jesus and follow Him, and learn from Him, grow together in Him and live in close fellowship with God as He intended in the beginning.

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