Read: Acts 12:1-11
He said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him. (vv. 8-9)
This isn’t the first time that Peter was beckoned “Follow me.” The first time came along the shores of the Sea of Galilee while he and his brother Andrew were mending their fishing nets (Mark 1:17). On that occasion the one calling to them was Jesus himself. This time it is an angel who calls to Peter. This story hints at an extraordinarily important reality in the Christian life: followership. It takes courage and trust to follow. And believers in Jesus like you and me are called to followership.
The Christian life is one of continual following. I remember like it was yesterday standing in the hot sands of Daytona Beach, Florida, as a young college student on spring break. I had come simply to join the crowds of young people having fun. The Lord had other plans for me.
I had been at an all-night college beach party and found myself the next morning wandering and wondering, Is this all there is? There a few hundred yards away I saw some kids plugging in guitars and beginning to sing. But it wasn’t a concert. It was a chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ (now called Cru) getting ready for a day of beach evangelism. A young student stood up and started preaching from 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” I followed that day and have been following ever since.
As you pray, ask Jesus to teach you to follow.
Dr. Timothy Brown is the Henry Bast Professor of Preaching and President Emeritus at Western Theological Seminary where he served from 1995-2021. Tim continues to actively coach and encourage former students and pastors who seek help in their preaching life and he has become a certified public school substitute teacher so that he can continue investing in the lives of young people. He is married to Nancy and together they have three children and ten grandchildren.
