Dr. Dan Hayden •
“Come to Papa!” a father says to the toddler who is learning to walk. “Come to Jesus!” the Father says to the sinner who needs to be saved. “Come” – that’s our word for today.
In John 5:39-40 Jesus said to the religious leaders of His day, “You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of me. And you are unwilling to come to me, that you may have life.”
“Unwilling to come.” That was the challenge Jesus leveled at the religious leaders. They wouldn’t come.
The Greek word for “come’ here is a word that can mean either to come or to go. It can mean to go toward something, or it can mean to come near, to approach. Sometimes it is used in the sense of coming before the public—to make an appearance. So the basic idea of this word is to make a movement in a direction.
When Jesus said to the men who would become His disciples, “Come, follow me,” He was saying more than “appreciate who I am.” He was saying, “make a movement toward me. Leave your former orientation of life, and come to me. Become a part of who I am.”
Have you ever noticed that there are some people who say they believe in Jesus, but they never really come to Him? They have a Sunday religion, not an every day relationship with Christ. Look—if you really believe in Jesus, you’ll make a move. You will come from where you are to where He is. You will come to Him.
Say—don’t just stand there! COME—and follow Jesus!