“Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

The Pew Research Center reported August 2018 in “Christianity Today,” the number one reason people went to church was because they wanted to be closer to God. Like those who witnessed the Lord’s ministry firsthand, we marvel at miracles, and ponder His teachings, but shy away from more intimacy with Jesus.

We attend church to see if that will satisfy our hunger for more. However, all the activities, sermons, and people we meet leave us lacking something. Maybe the missing element is a deeper commitment to follow the Lord.

In today’s scripture, two men make a radical decision. They drop the lifestyle they have known and decide to make following Jesus top priority. Their response is the result of an invitation of Jesus that is really His marching orders any true believer must accept. “Follow me,” is not presented as a question. It is a command. Their response shows the openness the men must develop before they learn more about the Lord than they already know.

Not only is Jesus’s statement a command, it has a warning, “I will make you.” To follow Jesus requires us to change. We need a new heart, a new mindset, new goals, new values. To follow Jesus is to allow Him to change whatever He wishes to change in our life. To follow Jesus, we come on His terms, not ours.

The men are not invited to an event. They are recruited for a mission. Others need to be rescued from the life they are living. These men will not only see that as the mission of Christ but will be assigned that mission as their life from that point forward. They must hear clearly, to be with Jesus, we must join Jesus in what He is doing.

The scripture records, they immediately left everything to follow Jesus. They didn’t know the future, but they knew the future they desired was in the hands of the Lord who called them to come closer and join Him in His mission to reach others.

If you are one that wants to be closer to Jesus, you must be on his agenda, not your own. You will need to change what you are doing. Even more, you must allow Jesus to change who you are. Only then will your fellowship with the Lord be what you desire.

Dr. John Temple is chaplain of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office. From the Shepherd’s Heart is published Fridays in The Meridian Star.