The Jesus AdventureIhe Atụ

Is your heart hungry for this journey that Jesus is calling you to follow? I was, although I didn’t understand Jesus at first. But I knew this life had to be about something deeper, higher, and bigger than I had known. I found the answer to that hunger in Jesus. Decades later, I’m still convinced.

Jesus is still calling us to continue on the adventure too! When John finally got around to writing about Jesus, he remembered and wrote that Jesus said:

When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice” (John 10:4-5, NIV).

Why did Jesus call people to follow Him? Some of us get weird ideas about what it means. We fear that He would want us to dress weirdly, walk around with weird haircuts, carry a big cross and a big garish Bible, shout at people, and pray out loud on the street corner. But Jesus does not want us to do that. Seriously. In fact, He said don’t do that (see Matthew 6:5).

Jesus called ordinary people to come alongside Him. In fact, very few of His early followers were rich or powerful. Some used foul language; some were liars. One was an assassin. Imagine that!

They were laborers with calloused hands and sunburned necks. One guy was a cheating bureaucrat. Some were housewives and moms. Some were prostitutes and criminals.

The most remarkable thing about Jesus’ followers is that they were mostly unremarkable. They were ordinary. Jesus made room for the scholar and the leader, but they were not His first choice.

Jesus invites us to join Him personally, to partner in His work, like apprentices. He wants to personally engage and train us. It’s mutual, a joint venture. Jesus is relational, and He’s calling you. I believe that’s why you picked this book up and have read this far—His Spirit is calling out for you to join as an apprentice in His work.

Will you join Him?