“And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.” – Matthew 4:18-20, NKJV

Did you know that the popular hymn, ‘I Have Decided to Follow Jesus,’ originated from India?

The lyrics are based on the last words of a new Indian convert called Nokseng, in Garo (now Meghalaya) in North-East India.

In the mid-19^th Century, missionaries traveled to the region to preach the Gospel but faced a lot of hostility.

Despite, a man, his wife, and two children were persuaded to accept Christ as their Lord and saviour.

This man’s faith proved contagious and many villagers began to accept Christianity. 

Word reached the tribal chief who called for a tribal meeting.

Furious, he then called the man, his wife and children to come forward.

He ordered them to renounce their faith in public or face execution.

 Moved by the Holy Spirit, the man said: “I have decided to follow Jesus.”

In response, the chief ordered his guards to spear the two children to death.

“Will you deny your faith now? The chief asked.

“You will lose your wife too if you don’t”!

“Though no one joins me, still I will follow,” the man replied.

Enraged, the chief ordered his guards to spear the woman to death as well.

“I will give you one more opportunity to deny your faith and live,” the chief roared. 

“The Cross before me, the world behind me. No turning back,” the brother responded.

But moved by the man’s resolute faith, the chief did not order his guards to kill the man.

“Why should this man, his wife and two children die for a Man who lived in a far-away land on another continent some 2,000 years ago?

“There must be some remarkable power behind the family’s faith, and I too want to taste that faith,” the chief told the gathering.

In a spontaneous confession of faith, he declared; “I too belong to Jesus Christ!”

When the crowd heard this from the mouth of their chief, the whole village accepted Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

Our meditation today is about the calling of apostles Peter and his brother Andrew.

“If anyone wants to follow Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” – Jesus

Jesus found the two fishermen setting off in the evening in their boat to cast their nets into the lake the for a good catch.

They had probably already made plans in regard to how the money from the day’s catch would be used.

They probably had loans to pay back. Of course, they had families to look after; children to take to school, etc.

Then, Jesus, a stranger in Capernaum shows up and gestures for them to stop.

“Hey guys, hi,” he tells them. “My name is Jesus of Nazareth, please come and follow me.”

“Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him,” the passage concludes.

When their colleagues asked them if they understood what they were going into, they probably replied; “I have decided to follow Jesus”!

In our contemporary world, having ‘followers’ has become some of a fad, thanks to social media.

Indeed, having many ‘followers’ can be a source of pride, if not potentially a good source of income.

In the early Church, and indeed in some parts of the world today, making a decision to follow Jesus is not a mere show-off.

It can be a fatal decision at worst or a life-sentence at best.

Our Lord Jesus said, “If anyone wants to follow Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” (Matthew 16:24).

So, the key question is, what have you left behind to follow Jesus?