Mark 3:13 – 19 Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons. These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.
Wherever Jesus went, crowds followed him. He had many followers – too many to count. He certainly had enough people to choose from, when it came time to select his disciples. He chose twelve – symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel. And he called them apostles, or authorized representatives of Jesus. These men would spend time with Jesus, study and learn from him, and be His official messengers in the world.
You would think Jesus would have chosen only the best and the brightest! He might have chosen the class valedictorians, or the good-looking athletes, or the born leaders.
But he didn’t.
The men Jesus chose didn’t necessarily have any qualities that made them stand out from the crowd. They were just normal, ordinary people. We might wonder what it was about these particular men that made Jesus choose them, over the others.
Well, it’s simple, really. They were willing.
These twelve ordinary men were willing to follow Jesus. They were willing to give up their day jobs, to risk it all and just follow him.
Jesus calls each and every one of us to follow him. He doesn’t call us because of our brains or our beauty, our talent or our skill. He just wants us to be willing to come when he calls.
You see, Jesus has enough power and skill and talent in the crook of His little finger to move mountains, to heal the sick, to feed the hungry . . . he doesn’t need anything we have. Oh, He will use our abilities, if we will give them to Him. But He doesn’t require us to be special in the eyes of the world. He just wants us to be willing.
You and me. Ordinary people. Called by God.
Will you follow Him?
Dear Father, I don’t have much to offer you. But what I have is Yours. I will follow You.
Amen
I am so very ordinary, Renae! And what comfort this post gives! I think every one of us has times when we feel pretty useless, and especially when we get older, we can’t always do the things that used to make us feel useful. But that doesn’t figure in when God looks at us! He sees me so much differently than I see myself, and I’m SO thankful!
Well, Jeanette, I think you are far from ordinary! But I know what you mean. I’m glad God doesn’t look for the same things the world looks for.
Renae,
It’s interesting that throughout the Bible didn’t choose the exceptional, but rather the ordinary, even those who thought they weren’t good enough. Moses stuttered, David was the young son in a family of outstanding men, and the disciples were fishermen and tax collectors. He calls all of us ordinary folk.
Hi Lillie. You’re right – as I look at the key players in the Bible, most of them were pretty ordinary . . . except for their faith and their willingness to obey God. I think He did that on purpose, don’t you? It gives us regular people hope, that we really can please Him.
Great reminder! Especially when I feel so lacking in my teaching abilities. It’s not about my ability but about my willingness to follow.
Hi Alyssa. I’ve often found that it is in the areas where we feel the most lacking that God likes to shine the brightest.
Dear Renae,
The Norwegian Bible says; “He will fill everything in everybody.”
That should be about enough shouldn’t it?
From Felisol
Amen, Felisol!