“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.”
– Mark 1:16-18
What a scene in Mark 1:16–18. And can you imagine, it sounds so simple, but just put yourself in the shoes of Simon and Andrew. They’re fishing, doing their normal work for the day. Jesus comes up to them, and we’ve got a sentence. “Follow me and I will make you become fishers of men.” Follow me. I think if I’m them, I’m asking him, “Well, where are you going? What does this mean?” But the verse doesn’t say where he was going. That in and of itself is revolutionary. Just let that soak in. There’s a million sermons here, but just let this one reality soak in today. Followers of Jesus don’t always know where they’re going, but they do always know who they’re with.
Followers of Jesus do not always know where they are going, but they do always know who they are with.
Mark 1:16–18: Jesus May Lead Us to Unknown Places
Let me say that again. Followers of Jesus don’t always know where they’re going, but they do always know who they’re with. Follow me. This is Jesus’ call to every single one of us. Follow me. Where are we going? Follow me. What will that involve? Follow me. We follow Jesus. We don’t always know where, how he is leading, will lead us. But we do know this. We can trust him wherever he leads. All in, wherever He leads, I’ll go. But that’s what’s expressed here. And verse 18 says immediately they left their nets and followed him. Just like that, they left it all behind and they followed Jesus, not knowing where they were going. So I just want to pray this over us today.
Mark 1:16–18: Giving Jesus Our Trust
Jesus, we look to you right now. I think about my life. I think about the lives of every single person listening right now, praying right now. And we say to you, we trust you. We trust you with our lives and our families, our jobs and our churches. We trust you with our future. And we say to you in prayer right now, we want to follow you today.
Asking God to Guide Us
Today we want to follow you. Lead us, guide us, direct us however you want, direct us however you want. Even as we pray that, we pray that you would do this work in us, make us become fishers of men and women. Lord, teach us, teach us how to share the gospel with other people, how to lead other people to you. Help us in this, God, we pray. And in all of this we say we trust in you. Lord, you have led us, each of our lives in ways we did not see coming, in ways we probably would not have chosen, but we trust you.
Some of us are even in those kinds of situations right now, where things are not working out in the way we envisioned. Challenges, difficulties, certainly surrounded by a world in a pandemic, but oh, we are so thankful we’re with you. That we’re following you, that you are leading us, that you will guide us. Psalm 23, you’re our shepherd and we shall not want.
Prayer to Stay Close to God
Lord, we are happy to be following you. We’re glad to be following you. So we pray, help us, help us to stay close to you. Help us to follow you without condition in total obedience to your word and the leadership of your Spirit. Just help us to be close to you all day long today in every way, help our thoughts, our words, our desires, our actions, everything to just to be so closely attuned to you, your word, your Spirit. We want to follow you today.
We want to follow you today and tomorrow and the next day and the next day, because we know if we’re following you, you will lead us well. You will lead us to life, life to the full. So we say yes, by your grace, oh, by your grace. We don’t deserve this, this invitation from you. We deserve separation from you. So we praise you for your grace and we pray together today based on your grace toward us. We say yes, help us to follow you in every way today. We pray this in your name, according to your word. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder and Chairman of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
