Jesus Led

What Did Jesus Do?

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Mathew 4.19

It used to be that husbands routinely ignored their wives’ pleas to stop and ask for directions. Better to wander aimlessly, or drive miles in the wrong direction than to lose face and ask for help. In the interest of marital harmony the folks at Garmin, Magellan, and Tom-Tom have supplied wives with a high-tech tool (“Toy” is more like it) that permits their husbands to imagine they are some kind of Star Trek captains who plug in the trip coordinates and follow the voice of the GPS computer, just like James T. Kirk used to do on the Enterprise. I imagine that, without those GPS voices to follow, many of us husbands would still be stubbornly stuck in our lostness.

Did you know that God has his own GPS system? Sure does. From before the world was created God had in place a plan, or system, if you will, to Graciously Procure Salvation for lost sinners by faith in Jesus Christ. For, in the fullness of time, into a world full of the lost the Father sent the Son to lead. And the Holy Spirit caused many hearts to respond, either to Christ’s call to “follow me,” or to His invitation to repent and make ready for the kingdom of heaven. Like hapless wives before the advent of GPS, the Holy Spirit could have done nothing for the lost if there had be no one to lead. But, in and through Jesus and His Gospel, the lost are found, and, following the Son, and Him alone, they are shown THE Way to the Father.

The fishermen Jesus called to become fishers of men were recruited to go out and find the lost and lead them to Christ. The time the apostles spent with Jesus was all about learning to be leaders from the Leader of leaders.

The challenge was, and is, sinners are as stubbornly determined to remain in their sins as husbands are reluctant to ask for directions. Your typical sinner would rather keep the pedal to the metal on the “Highway to Hell” than admit being lost. And volunteering directions to the lost will more often than not elicit words and gestures of the rudest disrespect from them rather than thanks. Why people even chose to crucify the Son rather than admit their lostness and follow Him to the Father.

Here’s the thing, there are still husbands who prefer being lost to putting a GPS in their car. And, sadly, there are many sinners who prefer their sin to putting Jesus in their heart. But, trusting the Father, who knows all hearts, and who has determined who will be found and who will stay lost, Christians are all called to be leaders who lead the lost to the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and, if you will, the Leader of leaders. All that can be done is to humbly and winsomely speak the directions to those who are lost, knowing that some will follow and some won’t. That’s what Jesus did.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4