THE INVITATION.

Mathew 3: 18 – 22


18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.
19 "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them,
22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

We all know this story of how Jesus selected his twelve disciples. Follow me was all He needed to say, and they followed. But, why? They already held jobs in the family business, yet they dropped what they were doing and left with Him. And, it wasn't just because He was Jesus.
Back in those days, every boy in the village, was visited by the local Rabbi who asked them to follow him. It was common to see a Rabbi walking through the village with a large entourage of young boys at his heel. They were there to learn what we call today the “Old Testament”. The Rabbi would whittle down the boys until only the best were left to become the Rabbinical students.
All this means, to us, that Peter, John, James, and the rest of them were failures at becoming Rabbis. They all had lost the chance at being one of the most respected people in their community.
God, being God, used castaways for His glory and gave us an example of His forgiveness and grace.
He affirms the fact that He is the God of the second chance.
God took a broke down, no good, dirty rotten drunk like me, whom had no redeeming qualities, and turned my life around as I responded to His invitation to follow Him.
Hey, I'm not trying to equate myself with those famous twelve guys, all I'm saying is that God can and will call to us and invite us to follow His lead. We have the choice to do so or not, but, unlike those Rabbi's of old, rather than whittle us down, Christ builds us up. Where we fail, He covers our errors. When we fall, He picks us up.

So, come on. Follow Him.