Imagine living during the time that Jesus was involved in active ministry. Imagine also that He sees you fishing and or mending your nets in preparation for a future expedition or whatever your job is. He calls out to you: "Come, follow me and I will make you a fisher of people." You've never seen this man before and He asks you to abandon your business and follow Him. Who is He, you wonder momentarily but you leave your business, your coworkers, your family's ways and follow Him for a lifetime as a married person, a religious, a priest, a single person. You listen to One who speaks with authority, to One who heals all who are brought to Him, does not turn the sick or the weak or the vulnerable away and asks the same of you and me. He raises the dead, gives sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf and invites you to treat these people kindly, that is, in a way that fosters healing, physical or spiritual. He also casts out demons from ranting and raving demoniacs, not afraid to interact with them. He asks the same of you and me. He gently and lovingly touches lepers and others deformed by their physical or psychological ailments and asks the same of you and me. His teachings and actions are strange: turn the other cheek, forgive sinners, do not throw stones at persons caught in adultery (or any other sin, for that matter), do good to those who hate you, wash each others' feet, welcome children, include women--in fact, Jesus chooses a woman to be the first to see Him after His resurrection and sends her to be the first to announce the good news. He does not treat women as inferior to men. Yes, Jesus shows us a new way that was not popular in His time or ours!
Come, follow me! Are you/am I willing to follow the Lord when He invites me to do so?
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