The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Come, follow me.” Philip was from Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown.”
John 1:43-44 NLT
Not everyone responded positively to Jesus’ invitation “Come, follow Me”. There was a time when he received excuses as to why He couldn’t be followed, as we read in Matthew 8:19-22, “Then one of the teachers of religious law said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” Another of his disciples said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.”“ Reading between the lines we can see that there was a reluctance to follow Jesus, because the cost of doing so was beyond what the people concerned were prepared to pay.
But in our verses today, we see that Jesus found Philip, not the other way round. People in religious circles often refer to a “calling” and often one of the caring professions is indeed called that. And a minister or pastor also refer to their role as a response to Jesus’ call. In Jesus’ day, the call “Come, follow Me” resulted in a life of potential hardship and we only have to look through the Book of Acts to see what happened to those early disciples. Today, many people who follow Jesus end up in situations that require 100% dedication. People like Jackie Pullinger for example. But for everyday pilgrims such as ourselves, we mostly have just to be available to Jesus with our resources, our time and money. And we follow Him at every opportunity, supporting His mission to grow His church.
So the invitation from Jesus constantly hangs in the air. It doesn’t go away. Everyone living in the world can respond at any time. And we pilgrims do our best to ensure that the invitation is never hidden or suppressed.
Dear Lord Jesus. We have responded to Your call “Come, follow Me”, and echo the words at the end of Revelation, “Come Lord Jesus”. Amen.
Being a Pilgrim 