Creator, Father, King #170

They left their nets at once and followed him.

YOU’VE LIKELY HEARD THE stories of Jesus calling some of his first disciples.

Peter, Andrew, James, and John were all fishermen who worked in the Sea of Galilee. Yet when Jesus uttered his famous words, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19, ESV), the two sets of brothers instantly dropped everything and followed the Messiah. Likewise, Matthew the tax collector (Matthew 9:9-13) and Philip (John 1:43-45) followed Jesus right away.

The immediacy of these responses is striking. However, there was one man who hesitated when Jesus called.

Philip was so excited about his encounter with Jesus, he went to tell his friend, Nathanael. “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about!” Philip said. “His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.”

“Nazareth!” Nathanael exclaimed. “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:45-46).

Skepticism and sarcasm were dripping from Nathanael’s words. Yet Philip persisted, and when Nathanael finally met Jesus, the Savior told Nathanael things that only the omniscient Son of God could know. Nathanael quickly realized he had been sinfully presumptuous.

“Rabbi,” he confessed, “you are the Son of God—the King of Israel!” (verse 49).

What’s It Mean?

When called, many of Jesus’ twelve disciples followed him immediately. Nathanael, however, was slower to follow. Fortunately, though, faith overcame doubt.

What about you? When God calls you for his purposes, what’s your response? Do you waver in skepticism and unbelief, or are you willing to drop everything and follow him in complete submission?

Perhaps God is calling you right now—through this book and elsewhere in your life. Are you a follower of Jesus? If not, the first step of answering God’s call, like Nathanael, is confessing belief about who his Son really is (Romans 10:9-10).

If you have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins, how is God calling you to actively obey him now? What is he calling you to do?

Jesus won’t call you face-to-face like he did with the original twelve disciples. Instead, God now calls us through his Spirit working in our hearts. When God calls, don’t waver or doubt—leave your nets at once, so to speak, and follow him!

Now What?

Read about Jesus’ calling of the disciples in Matthew 4:18-22 and 9:9-13; Luke 5:1-11; and John 1:35-51.

Did You Know?

Many biblical scholars believe Nathanael was also called Bartholomew in the synoptic gospels’ list of disciples (Matthew 10:2-4; Mark 3:16-18; and Luke 6:13-16).