[Follow] A Life Of PurposeSample

Fishers of Men

When Jesus called His disciples, He went to them. He took the initiative. He met them where they were in the middle of their busy lives and gave them a simple invitation. He offered them a new purpose for living.

Jesus invites you to follow Him from right where you are now. We struggle with this because we want to know all the details. Where are we going? How long will we be gone? How will this or that work out? But God doesn’t fill you in on all the details. He asks you to trust Him.

Peter and Andrew were just doing life when Jesus showed up. It’s just the same for you and me. We’re deep into doing life when Jesus shows up and invites us to follow Him. He offers us a purpose and a new meaning for our lives.

I don’t believe that just having one pleasurable experience after another, chasing one dream after another, or even achieving great success, fame or fortune equates to a good life. I believe we need to know our life counts. We hunger for purpose. We want to know we have made a difference. It’s a fundamental question. Why am I here? Why do I exist? I believe that a relationship with God answers those most basic questions of life.

Notice when Jesus called His disciples, He didn’t say, “Come follow Me and I will bless your fishing business.” He said, “Come follow Me and I will make the focus of your life less on you and more on others.” He gave them an eternal purpose that would make a difference in the lives of other people. In fact, they’re still making a difference in our lives today; aren’t they? That is an amazing legacy!

Jesus never lost sight of His purpose. He knew why He was here and never allowed Himself to be distracted from that mission. In fact, He repeated what His mission was a number of times because the people who were following Him thought it was something different. Some of them thought he was here for political purposes. They thought He would overthrow the Roman government and restore Israel to its rightful place. Others saw the miracles and thought He was here to give them the comfortable life they wanted.

Jesus was crystal clear on His mission, “I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give My life as a ransom for many.” How clear are you about your purpose? How would you describe your mission?