The call to Come

You know those songs that just jump out at you? The one that makes you turn it up, listen to it over and over, and it stays in your head for days? Well, my most recent encounter with one of these songs is "Fishers of Men" by Rhonda Vincent.  You can listen to it here: https://youtu.be/9Dyi1qRyXfE

This song appeals to me on many levels, I love blue grass, I love A capella, I have a major soft spot for Southern Gospel...I could go on. These were the reasons I kept listening to it and allowed it to replay in my head over and over. It got to the point that my 5 yr old has become obsessed with it and often asks to listen to it. 

Then one day it hit me, this song has the obvious Christian message, but I found another layer to this message that I have overlooked before. The lyrics from the chorus are:
     "Rise and follow me
      I'll make you worthy
      Rise and follow me 
      I'll make you fishers of men."
This is referring to Matthew 4:18-22 when Jesus called Peter, John and James to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. 

The part that jumped out to me was that Jesus' call was so simple: "Come, follow me" or to simplify it further, "Come". He didn't need anything from them at that moment but obedience. He didn't need them to be perfect or changed. He didn't need them to be trained in anything or have money. He only wanted their willingness to follow him. 

As people, we complicate EVERYTHING! Religion and the gospel is no exception. We think that we need to be better, we need to change, we need to have money... But, none of that is true. He only wants us to be obedient and come. Then we see in the next line "I'll make you worthy"and at the end of the chorus "I will make you fishers of men". It is our job to answer his call to come, then it is up to him to be the change in us. We are not capable of being worthy on our own, that comes from him! 

I think that the overt message here is found in the call to believe in Jesus and become a Christian. So, I hope that if you are already a believer that you haven't trailed off and are still reading! I think that this applies to us in so many more areas than just our first belief. I believe that we are regularly called to "Come" and be obedient. We as people talk ourselves out of being the person for the job, but that part is left to him if he has called us to it. 

My example of this, is in writing this post. I have known for days that I was being called to "come" write this. Me, being human, I was willing, but reluctant. I didn't feel that I was adequate for writing this. Here is some of the self talk that occurred: 

• I am not good enough to write this. I haven't been to Bible college and I don't have any formal training in the Bible. The only B I got in college was my religion class. 
• I am in way over my head with this one. I only write about opinions and my personal experiences. 
• What if I get something wrong?
• This is probably something that most people have already thought of on their own, I'm probably just slow getting to this realization.
• No one is going to want to read this anyway. I'm tired and the only time I have to work on is while my child naps, and I'd really like to nap today too. 
• I'm not a writer, I know that I'll make grammatical errors while writing this. 

I could go on. But, ultimately, I had to trust that if this was what I was being called to, that God would follow through on his part and make worthy of writing it.  It is my hope and prayer that in my humanity, I didn't complicate this very simple idea and that in my obedience to write this that the message will be conveyed appropriately. 

So, what are you being called to "Come" to?

What is keeping you from answering the very simple call?

Can you trust God enough to equip you do the rest if you respond in obedience?