SUNDAY Worship 8AM & 10:30AM
759 East Avenue Tallmadge, OH 44278 (330) 633-4775
Feb 15 – Mark 1:14-28
Are You Following Jesus?
Siegfried Michlberger
We are all called to be followers of Jesus. Have you ever wondered-am I truly following Jesus, or just going through the motions on Sunday? After all, we aren’t like the disciples who were there at the time of Jesus, hearing his teachings and witnessing the miracles. We can only follow by faith and belief in what the Bible tells us.
In the Gospel of Mark 1:14-28 we see a timeless example of Jesus calling people to follow Him through faith. In verse 15 Jesus says, “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe in the gospel.” In verse 17 we see the call, “And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.” Notice-no miraculous signs are given. No winning arguments. This is a pure and simple call to follow Jesus and by doing so, to do 2 things:
- Repent
- Believe the Gospel
Repentance requires a knowledge of your wrongdoing, and a change. Turning 180 degrees from your old sinful ways to God’s ways. Turning from your will to His. Believing in the Gospel is to believe in Jesus’ teachings and revelations.
Next we see the appropriate reaction from the men Jesus was speaking to. A reaction of faith. Verse 18 says “And straightway they forsook their nets and followed him.” We see this again in verse 20 when Jesus spoke to the sons of Zebedee, “And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went with him.”
Do we see a hesitation? No, we don’t. Do we see them waiting for signs? We don’t! Do we hear Zebedee’s sons giving the excuse that they haven’t had any special training? No! These disciples were called to follow Jesus by faith with or without any signs, just as we are called today to serve the Lord. Through faith, we can answer this call and follow Jesus with repentance and belief in the Gospel.
We pray:
Lord, let us turn to You in all that we do and live with an unshakable knowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, having died on the cross and been resurrected for the forgiveness of our sins. Give us the faith to answer the call to repent and believe and follow You. Amen.