come

I was reading John the other night and I came across a single word that stuck out so boldly that it caused me to stop and think and fall in love with Jesus all over again.

Starting in chapter 1, verse 35, the story about Jesus calling the first disciples to follow Him is told. Actually, two guys started walking behind Him and when Jesus saw them, He asked, "What do you want?" (v. 37-38) and they asked Him where He was staying. 

Verse 39 is, I believe, monumental in the disciples' lives and in anyone who chooses to surrender themselves to Christ.

Verse 39 is Jesus's response to their question of where He was going.

"'Come,' He replied, 'and you will see.'"

Jesus invites His disciples from conversation one to engage in this incredible adventure. He doesn't tell them much about what's to happen in the future, He just says, come and see.

In verse 43, we hear Jesus telling another disciple, Phillip, to "Follow me."

Phillip must have caught the "Jesus bug" right then and there because he went and found his friend, Nathaneal, and told him all about Jesus. Nathaneal asked Phillip if anything good could really come from all of this and so simply, in verse 46, Phillip tells his friend, "Come and see." So, of course, Nathaneal came. From the very beginning Jesus's invitation was exhilarating and His love was contagious.

After reading this, I looked up other passages in the gospels where Jesus said the word "come," and surprisingly enough, there are quite a few.

In Matthew 11:28, He tells all of the weary and burdened, all of the people seeking rest, to "Come to me."

In Matthew 14:29, He tells Peter to "Come" and walk on the water.

In Matthew 19:14 and Luke 18:16, He says to let the little children come to Him.

In Luke 19:5, He tells Zaccheaeus to climb down his sycamore tree and come with Him.

And one of my personal favorites:

After the resurrection, Jesus appears to some of His disciples who are fishing on a boat (the writer in me loves that He ends where He started) and after helping them catch tons and tons of fish, in John 21:12, He invites His friends to, "Come and have breakfast." Jesus delighted in spending time with people and loving on them even in the simpliest occasions such as having a meal.

Not even ten minutes before I started this post, I finished reading a book by a guy named Bob Goff. I've heard amazing things about "Love Does," for well over a year now but just hadn't gotten around to reading it. Now that I've read it, I'm thankful I didn't read it until this point in my life because I'm not sure that it would have affected me as greatly had I read it any earlier.

Basically the whole book is Bob sharing stories from his life and then relating them to our relationship with Jesus. The theme of his book is two simple words: Love does. He mentions more than once that when "love does," love does big.

To me, that's  what Jesus was, and is, all about. God loves His creation so much that number 1, He makes us in HIS image, and number 2, He invites us to engage in His love and come on His adventure. You see, Jesus doesn't just love people. He loves people BIG and He invites us to come and do the same.

One of the things we got to do at the Young Life camp in Nicaragua was walk through a labyrinth they built/planted on their property. The fact that it was dark and the leaders didn't tell us what we were doing made it all the more special and intimate. They said to come, so we grabbed a jacket and a flashlight and went. Once we walked to the opening of the labyrinth, a super sweet lady told us that this was the only labyrinth in Central America and they used it as a time of reflection for the campers. Before entering, we were given a Bible verse typed up on a piece of paper and told to read it at the end of the path. We also had our flashlights so as we began our walk one by one, we could see through the bushes that the labyrinth was getting brighter. At the end of the path was a cross and we found the interns playing music and worshipping. As you looked up into the sky it seemed like the stars had all come to the Nicaraguan sky to show off for us that night (and that's saying a lot being from west Texas). 

The next afternoon, I went back up the labyrinth alone, mainly to take pictures, but also just to spend some time alone with God.

As I was walking back to the cabins afterwords, I was overwhelmed by our God and His never-ending faithfulness. It's like Jesus whispered the greatest invitation into my ear, "You can be a part of ALL of my faithfulness ALL of the time. Come." How awesome is it to serve a God and better yet, be loved by a God who we can always depend on and never exaggerate.

There is a song called "The Cost" by Rend Collective. One part of the song says "I've counted up the cost. Oh, I've counted up the cost. Yes, I've counted up the cost, and You are worth it. Jesus, take my all. Take my everything. I've counted up the cost, and You're worth everything."

I counted up the cost on that walk back down to the cabin and God's faithfulness was enough evidence that this life He invites us to live, this life of love and adventure- no matter how heart-wrenching it can be at times, is so. worth. it. I told Jesus that I was His. Whatever He said to do, I'll do. Anything.

Wherever He said to go, I'll go. Anywhere.

Whenever He said to be, I'll be. Anytime.

Whatever, wherever, whenever.

Anything.

I think those words are something a lot of us say and talk about with fellow believers often, but saying them aloud in the middle of a dirt road at a camp that is dedicated to sharing God's love with the youth of a nation made it real and permanent for me. I don't just want to talk about following Jesus, I want to come with Him and do. 

This whole wholeheartedly-following-Jesus thing is kind of new to me and I've already messed up a bunch, but falling down and getting picked back up by the Creator of the world is something I'm learning to be okay with. As I told an incredible friend of mine a couple weeks ago in a parking spot at Sonic, I'm dead serious about this "following Jesus" thing and I'm dead serious about this "loving His people" thing.

I'm not sure what all of this means for my life and my future, but I do know whatever Jesus has in mind for me is way more exciting and thrilling than something my little brain could cook up. Jesus said "Come," and you better believe I'm coming.