Mark 1:18 “And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him.”
Leaving and Following
My grandfather put a borrowed saddle on a half-broke mare named “Go West” in 1930. He was only eighteen years old, but both his parents were dead. All he knew was West Texas; all he loved was ranching. On that day in 1930, he said goodbye to the ranch, cattle, horses, and cowboys, and saddled up to go to a little Bible college in Decatur, Texas. The rest, as they say, is history.
Anyone who has ever been used by God to make a difference in this world had something to leave and Someone to follow. In Mark 1, the Lord Jesus called His disciples to follow Him. His calling was simple: “Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” Simon and Andrew “straightway…forsook their nets, and followed him.” Soon after, Jesus called James and John, and what did they do? “They left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.” Notice that they all left something in order to follow Someone.
Many people want to follow the Lord but hold on to what they have. You can’t do that! While it’s not virtuous to be destitute and flat broke, it is virtuous to follow the One who made you. The way that happens is for you to be willing to leave whatever would keep you from following Christ. Leaving is a means to following.
So how should we follow? The Bible says that Andrew, Simon Peter, James, and John all followed “straightway.” That means without delay! Now is the time. You don’t have to know exactly what the Lord has planned for the next thirty years in order to follow Him straightway. It’s not a matter of where you are going; it is a matter of Who you are following. The Lord knows the way, so if you are following Him, you’ll make it!
We should follow straightway, and we should follow every day. The Lord Jesus said, “I will make you to become. . . .” That implies some time and some learning. Following Christ is a daily decision.
Follow straightway. Follow every day. And follow all the way! These disciples literally changed the world for Christ because they left something and followed Someone. Don’t fall short of all that God has for you because you don’t follow all the way. Following Christ is the highest calling you will ever have, and to follow Him you must first leave something. Follow without delay, every day, all the way, and leave whatever may hold you back.