Following After We’re Found 

 By Rev. Kenley Mann, Chaplain 

Want to know something interesting about the Apostle Philip? He was personally reached by Jesus himself. Although Philip brought Nathanael to Jesus, and Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, no one brought Philip to Jesus. Instead, Jesus found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 

Normally, God reaches people through people. Andrew heard John the Baptist say, “Look! The Lamb of God,” and he followed Jesus. The first thing that Andrew did was to find Peter, his brother, and to bring him to Jesus. But this time, Jesus came directly to Philip and said, “Follow me.” 

Want to know something interesting about yourself as a believer? No matter whether it was your parents bringing you to the waters of baptism, or someone inviting you to hear God’s word, or your picking up the Bible for yourself and reading it, it was still Jesus who personally met you. 

He let you see himself as “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” and you were brought to faith in him.

When Jesus spoke to Philip, he said, “Keep on following me.” That means that Philip had already met Jesus. Where did Philip meet Jesus? He met Jesus through the pages of the Old Testament. 

Concerning Philip, Nathanael, Andrew, and Peter, the simple question is: Who really finds whom? It is Jesus who came and found them all. Jesus finds us by having us meet his word, and then, we continue to follow him. As we read the Old and New Testaments, we see that Jesus meets us personally, and we continue to follow him.  

“When you are dead and gone, how would you like to be remembered?” 

We all want to be remembered, but HOW do you want to be remembered? I can’t think of a better way to be remembered than for people to say, “Hey, he brought people to Jesus.” 

Prayer: Dear Jesus, when I could not come to you, you came to me. Thank you for being the Lamb of God who took away my sin, and thank you for personally finding me through your word. Please keep coming to me through your word. In this way, I can keep following you, and others may follow me to you in your word as well. Amen.