"Follow Me"

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew.  They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  At once they left their nets and followed Him.

Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John.  They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets.  Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. 

-Matthew 4:18-22 (emphasis mine)

What radical faith.  Here are four men, working away on the docks, trying to bring home food for the day.  Jesus had just begun His ministry, so these guys may or may not have heard of Him.  Regardless, they didn't know Him well.

So this strange guy walks by, says "Follow me," and they do.  They drop what they're doing and follow Him.  Two of them even walked away from their father, whom they were working with.

And they kept following Him.  For the next three and a half years, they followed this Man.

Make me wonder.  If Jesus walked down the hall of the hospital where I work, poked His head into the therapy gym, waved and said "Hey, come with me," would I?  Would I drop my paperwork, walk out on my patient, leave my car behind and follow?  Would I walk behind Him out the door and into the great unknown and not return for several years?

I kind of think I wouldn't.  I'm guessing my response would be more like, "Hang on just a sec, I'll be done in fifteen minutes, then I'll come talk to you."  I certainly wouldn't abandon my work.  If I followed, I'd probably at least wait until the end of the day, after I tied up my loose ends.

But He has words for people like me.

He said to another man, "Follow me."
But the man replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father."
Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
Still another said, "I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family."
Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

He demands everything.  I need to choose to follow and not look back.