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Andrew and Peter

John 1:40 says that Andrew was one of the men who heard what John said and followed Jesus. Later, Andrew went to find his brother Simon. He told him, “We found the Messiah, the Christ, the anointed one.”

Andrew was constantly bringing people to Jesus. You know the story of Jesus feeding the multitudes. They were sitting on the side of the hill with 5,000 men, plus women and children, which could have been about 15,000 people. Jesus said to the disciples, “Let’s feed these people.” They said, “Feed them with what? Our looks?” But Andrew says, “Here’s this kid who has two fish and five loaves,” and he brings him to Jesus. Jesus blesses the food, multiplies it, and then feeds the 5,000.

Are we bringing people to Jesus? We can invite them to church or to a concert or give them a book or link to watch a faith-based video. We must constantly be bringing people to Jesus. Not beating people over the head, or freaking people out, but loving them and bringing them to Jesus—just like Andrew.

Andrew went to find his brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah, the Christ.” Now, Andrew and his brother were fishermen, blue-collar folk, normal people. Andrew took Simon to meet Jesus. Jesus looked intently at Simon. He was like a bobcat, crouched motionless, fixed on its quarry. Maybe Jesus was thinking, “This dude’s a piece of work. He’s going to be amazing when I’m done with him, but right now he is messed up. He has some serious issues, but he’s a diamond in the rough.”

So, Jesus said, “Your name is Simon, son of John, but you will be called Peter.” In the original Greek, the word means stone, or more like a little pebble. In my own translation, you could say that Jesus called Simon “Rocky.” Jesus knew Simon was very rough around the edges. Many of us can relate to him. The man was fearless. He was courageous, but he said a lot of stupid things and made a lot of mistakes. But God used him in a powerful way when he surrendered his life to serve Christ. And God can use you, powerfully, too, when you are Jesus’ disciple. Surrender to Him.