Jesus Said, Follow Me And I Will Make Ye Fishers Of Men - Part 2577

And Jesus saith unto them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."Jesus said unto him, "Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." (Matthew 8:22)

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, He saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and He saith unto him, "Follow Me." And he arose, and followed Him. (Matthew 9:9)

And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed Him, crying, and saying, "Thou Son of David, have mercy on us." (Matthew 9:27) 

"And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me." (Matthew 10:38) 

Then said Jesus unto His disciples, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24) 

Jesus said unto him, "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow Me." (Matthew 19:21) 

And Jesus said unto them, "Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." (Matthew 19:28) 

And as He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphæus sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, "Follow Me." And he arose and followed Him. And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and His disciples: for there were many, and they followed Him." (Mark 2:14-15)

And when He had called the people unto Him with His disciples also, He said unto them, "Whosoever will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Mark 8:14) 

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." (Mark 10:21) 

And He sendeth forth two of His disciples, and saith unto them, "Go ye into the city, and there shall meet you a man bearing a pitcher of water: follow him." (Mark 14:13) 

And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on Him ..." (Mark 14:51) In this latter text, context is important. "And they laid their hands on Him, and took Him. And one of them that stood by drew a sword, and smote a servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear. And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Are ye come out, as against a thief, with swords and with staves to take me? I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took Me not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled." And they all forsook Him, and fled. And there followed Him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about His naked body; and the young men laid hold on Him: and he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked." (Mark 14:46-52) 

And after these things He went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said unto him, "Follow Me." (Luke 5:27)

And He said to them all, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23)

And He said unto another, "Follow Me." But he said, "Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father." ... And another also said, "Lord, I will follow Thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house." (Luke 9:59-61) 

"Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, "Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me." (Luke 18:22) 

And He said unto them, "Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he enters in." (Luke 22:10)

The day following Jesus would go forth into Galilee, and finds Philip, and saith unto him, "Follow Me." (John 1:43) 

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, "I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life." (John 8:12) 

Jesus said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me:" (John 10:27)

Jesus said, "If any man serve Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall also My servant be: if any man serve Me, him will My Father honour." (John 12:26) 

Simon Peter said unto Him, "Lord, whither goest thou?" Jesus answered him, "Whither I go, thou canst not follow Me now; but thou shalt follow Me afterwards." (John 13:36)

This spake He, signifying by what death he should glorify God. And when he had spoken this, He saith unto him, "Follow Me." (John 21:19)

Jesus saith unto him, "If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee? Follow thou Me." (John 21:22)

What is Jesus' good news gospel? 

Repeatedly, throughout the gospels, Jesus said for us to "Follow Me!"

Why is this important to understand? Because there are self-declared ministers (pastors?) out there declaring life principles that don't acknowledge the greatest love story ever told -- that God Himself would clothe Himself in sin-prone flesh (yet without sin) so that we could have abundant life in Him. That it is He who paid the ultimate price for our salvation -- on that cross -- so that He could have a family. (Acts 20:28; I Timothy 3:16) 

He was in the world and the world was made by Him and the world knew Him not. He came unto His own and His own received Him not. (John 1:10-11)

You see, God has the same problem as many rich men in the world -- with an inheritance so vast, so rich, so beyond any measure of this world that there are those who would look to Him for what He has in His hand. But what He really wants is a family that desires Him for who He is. This is why His true identity had to be hidden as God in Christ -- the only begotten Son -- so that we, as did those who followed Jesus when He walked this earth, would come to Him as a consequence of our heart's desire to experience more of Him. 

Thus, as you can see, throughout the gospels, there are many examples of those who picked up their own cross to follow Jesus, leaving their worldly baggage and belongings behind. Even before the cross, these understood that there is nothing in this world more precious than the love of Jesus, because first hand these had an opportunity to witness His love for humanity.

Moreover, the believers who followed Him had an understanding of intimacy with God through Jesus, in Jesus, and because of Jesus. And yet, sadly today, many in the modern day religious culture want to prove God as the Father of a dysfunctional family, rather than offer you the understanding and knowledge that in this current dispensation of grace, Jesus is the only way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6)

"And ye shall call His name JESUS for He shall save His people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21-23) 

Indeed, the same God who created us int he beginning loved us so much that He would shed His precious, holy blood on a cross for you and I. 

Herein, we find glimpses of what it means to follow Jesus. Herein we learn that we can put our head on His shoulder and anoint His feet with our tears -- and experience His presence in every breath we take. We can also have that assurance that when we follow Jesus as both Lord and Christ, we are no longer His servants but His friends. (Acts 2:36) And that when we desire to do His will, the purpose that He placed in our heart whilst we were still in our mother's womb, we can have true intimacy with God.  

And when we desire to do His will, we satisfy His purpose in our lives. Stand in the offering plate.