As we study the gospels we see Jesus time and time again calling people to follow Him. His invitation was a personal one that could either be accepted or refused. For example, Mark’s gospel records that Jesus found two brothers engaged in fishing and His message to them was, “Follow Me”.
In a nutshell, this is Christianity; this is what it means to be a Christian. It is fallen man responding to God’s invitation to “Come.” The word “come” implies a tone of immediacy – “Come here, come now!!” When our Lord addressed the crowds, His simple message was an all inclusive, “Come unto Me”.
In the Old Testament God’s message was the same: “Look to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth!” The words “Look to Me” can also be translated, “Face Me.” Sin refuses to look Jesus in the face, but the reality is that it’s not until we as sinners look Jesus in the face with a broken and contrite heart that we can be saved.
The fact is that before we were saved, we were spiritually bankrupt; yet we were (whether we knew it or not) hungry for God’s love and acceptance. Separated from God by our sins, we groped around in the darkness like a blind man looking for sight. In our efforts to deal with our emptiness, we tried to fill that void with pleasures of every sort. We may even have adopted a form of godliness but not wanted anything to do with the cross of Calvary. Whatever ‘well’ we went to in order to fill our spiritual need was never able to substitute for the living water that Jesus alone provides.
Are you hungry and thirsty for a real relationship with God? He has not changed His method of calling. His invitation is a resounding, “Come to the waters; …Come, buy and eat. …come to Me.” You can be sure of one thing, and that is that Jesus will not reject you. Oh yes, there is a cost that needs to be counted for following Jesus, but it’s not nearly the cost that you would pay for rejecting Him!
Oh “come to Me”, says the Savior! Drop your net today. It may be the net of pride, or it may be the net of materialism, or it may even be the net of religion. God’s invitation is a simple one to whosoever will, and that is, “Come!”
