Quite a few years ago, before I was married in fact, I used to have a small business repairing motorcycles. In those days it wasn’t complicated to repair bikes, not like now. I had a small workshop and by today’s standards fairly basic tools.
One day I had a machine parked up outside to work on it since it was quite a nice day. So, there I was, bent over this machine, trying to get the air filter bolted back onto the carburettor. It was fiddly with not much access and I kept dropping one of the nuts and then having to fish it out of a deep hollow between the gearbox and the engine crankcase. I became aware of a shadow temporarily blocking the suns rays as a man came up to where I was working. I looked up, to see a man perhaps a couple of years older than me (I was 28 at the time, so yes, quite a few years ago!)
I didn’t know him, and by the slight difference of accent I guessed that he came from further west of the village where I lived. He looked pleasant enough, and I assumed he maybe wanted to enquire about a motorcycle, or perhaps just ask directions.
In the event, he only said four words, “come along with me”. I wiped my hands clean on a bit of rag and left the bike I had been working on. In fact, I left everything behind – didn’t even put things away and lock the workshop – just walked away from it all and never went back. Never looked back either!
Actually that was all a story that I just made up to illustrate what it was like when Jesus pitched up on the shore of Lake Galilee one day and said “come follow me” to some guys that he’d never met before. Without a second thought, they responded immediately, left their tools, left their family businesses and followed this stranger – forever. (In my story there were two details that were truthful; at the age of 28 I did follow the One who said “come along with me” and I have never looked back).
This week I had the pleasure of helping a young guy make that same decision to follow Jesus. I had very little to do with it. His friend had been telling him about Jesus over the last few months. As a result, he decided what he wanted to do and came and knocked on my door. “I want to give my life to God” was what he said. Simple as that. As we chatted I took time to remind him of how Jesus called the disciples, how they left everything and how they hadn’t got a clue where He would take them. But they made the decision. To follow Him anywhere, no matter what. And they did. No turning back.
The word Jesus used for follow meant ‘as a disciple’ but it also means ‘accompany me, partner with me, we’ll work together from now on’. That’s what these first followers of Jesus understood Him to be saying to them. And that’s what happened. They accompanied Him everywhere, they learned from Him, they partnered with Him and worked with Him. It was a blast.
Not sure that I haven’t mentioned this before by the way, but Revival is coming. The biggest outpouring of the Spirit and Power of God that the world has ever seen is coming. It’s time to position ourselves.
The harvest is ready now. And we are the ones privileged to be harvesters, often reaping where we have not sown, but also privileged to be able to sow and reap in one season. When Jesus talked about harvest workers (and the fact that they are in short supply) He was not appealing for Christian spectators. He was appealing for those who would accompany Him and partner with Him. We are not waiting for revival to fall on us, we are the triggers – what we do now invites Holy Spirit to come in power. We, like the first disciples, are to start revival wherever we go.
To echo the words of John Wimber, “Come, follow Me” doesn’t mean to get together, sing about it, talk about it, read about it. It means to divvy up the land and go out and do it. In the coming outpouring we’ll be out doing it. Might as well start now – it’s what we signed up for. No point in missing out is there?
Church is out there 