Welcome to the launch of Buoy, a Life in Deeper Water podcast.
Episode 3. Be First to Follow
Hello human.
(click here to listen)
You Can’t Take a Taxi to Get There
In 2015, my husband and I went to Italy. About halfway through our trip we landed in Venice. It was a flight from Naples to Venice, and by the time we de-planed, retrieved baggage and hailed a taxi, it was dark. It is not an urban city, with lit streets, and the neon accents of a say, Times Square. It feels rural, linked together by a maze of steps jumping the Grand Canal all over the city. The taxi driver said, “there are no streets in Venice so tell me your hotel and I will take you as far as I go. You will have to walk from there. He didn’t know how to explain our walk from there, really. My husband called the hotel, several times. On the last call, he asked the concierge to stay on the phone, to confirm we were going the right way. How impossible, how unlikely it seemed that we were on the right path but affirmations did come along the way, oh, yes that sign in Italian, yes, that’s what it seems to be saying. Then keep going. Lugging baggage (which we do in our spiritual lives too, by the way) over every canal stone bridge, across piazzas with rural lighting (none), and shuttered windows with sleeping flowers in shadowy boxes.
A maze of turns on cobblestone pathways, alleys, narrow openings between buildings, and many choices that just seemed so dark. The straight and narrow path, getting narrower. The concierge said you will be entering the final alley when you see one small green door at the end. I said a prayer as we walked down the final narrow alley to the green door. It was a dark, narrow, ancient alley. I was picturing our room, blanking on the online photos we had seen when we booked it. I told myself I would be fine sleeping on the floor in a dark corner. Even if there were crawly creatures speaking Italian, God would protect me. It would be like camping. It didn’t matter because we were in Venice, Italy.
When my husband opened the door, I gasped. I am not a gasper, but my heart cried out: we had found heaven. Perfectly-designed floors along a widening corridor, opening beyond a quick turn to the right to a perfectly-tasteful lobby with iron terrace windows framing the Grand Canal. I felt a whole lotta grateful. The most beautiful, luxurious room, and because we were so late checking in the concierge called a restaurant and reserved a table before they closed. Within 20 minutes we had settled into our room, walked to the restaurant and were taking in the aroma of authentic Italian pasta. At an air-conditioned window table overlooking the locals enjoying the evening on the restaurant patio. How American of us, yet not ashamed. It had been a long, hot, humid, buggy travel day.
This is not unlike following Jesus. Someone we did not know at all was giving us instructions, requiring us to trust, stay committed and follow. I can name on one hand the times I have felt the way I felt when we opened that green door, but it is enough to know deep in my God-persuaded heart that the wooden manger our Savior was born in would become the eternal bed of my heavenly home. When I stepped through that green door, I thought: “In my Father’s house are many mansions… I go to prepare a place for you.”
What it Takes to be a Jesus Super Fan
It’s not hard to think about Jesus as a rock star. All of the Gospels track His popularity throughout His ministry, from a few listeners to many, from commoners to religious leaders, to growing crowds, even a glimpse into fan management by the disciples. I say this not out of irreverence but out of my need to visualize how His earthly life evolved over His three- year ministry. What His earthly life was like, how people responded to Him.
So who was first to follow Jesus?
According to Luke 5:1-11, here’s how I tell it.
Jesus was preaching to an overwhelming crowd along the shore. He saw Simon, Andrew, James and John cleaning their nets. He asked Simon if He could use his boat to preach to the crowd. After a while Jesus told Simon to go out deeper into the lake to cast the net. Simon told Jesus he had tried last night but followed Jesus’ request anyway. When Simon did what Jesus asked he caught so many fish he thought it would sink all their boats. He immediately worshipped Jesus. (now this is the Simon Peter we know, right?)
Mark 1:17-18
17 Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people. 18 At once they left their nets and followed him.
The first “follow me”, from Jesus is an invitation. According to the Greek word, it means “Come here.”
The second follow – “followed him” means “a follower,” or “companion”, “one going in the same way”, this word is used metaphorically, of “discipleship” 77 times in the Gospels about “following” Christ.
What did the fishermen do:
The timing of their response: At once.
The scale of their response: They left everything.
These fishermen became the first four to follow of the 12 apostles. They would come to know about fishing for people. They already knew all about caught fish, lost fish, and the challenges of an empty net, but now a net so full earthly effort might not hold the bounty — when you follow the command of Jesus. Jesus spoke to what they knew.
But how does free will figure into following? God dignifies us with free will, the power to make decisions on our own. Because we are made in His image.
The apostle Paul is clear in telling us what to say and believe if our choice is Jesus:
Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
We are free to follow. This is ours to do.
(click here to listen)
The “Following” Gene is in Our Nature
People have trouble with following a god, any god. Following in a spiritual context implies submission, and is weak, archaic, foolish. Following “self” is considered strong, courageous, forward-thinking, liberating—characterized as people seeking “their truth.”
One of my least favorite things to do is to follow someone in a separate car when I don’t know the address, I am not familiar with where we are going. I feel helpless and at the mercy of the lead car. To make moves I might not normally make, to anticipate, to speed up, slow down, change lanes, change multiple lanes.
But that is exactly what pop culture does; coaxes us to create and participate in little sub-cultures of followers – to follow, often blindly, in alignment with a topic, a brand, a shared aspiration, we do it ad nauseum. We are very, very good at it; building self-driven communities.
What’s important here is that God created us in His image. We have “following” in our nature because we were created to love God in return. To respond to our Creator. He loved us first. It is a choice, my origin choice because we have free will.
I want to be in that boat with Jesus, hearing him preach, seeing all those fish, and having my heart so full of fish that I leave everything else behind. I take nothing and align my each step behind His on that dusty road. That I am first to follow. That I help others be first to follow.
During this launch series, I have shared two personal affirmations with you:
Affirmation #1: My faith is solely defined by His divine persuasion in my life.
Affirmation #2: I swim in deeper water by my own free will.
Which brings me to:
Affirmation #3: I follow Jesus through the power of God’s word to reveal His divine nature in my life.
Paul says in Romans 10:17: So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
God is the Faithful One
What do we not know about God’s nature that would change how we seek him, and how we respond when He calls on us? What limits in knowing God hinder us from accepting His divine persuasion, His measured gift of faith? We find the answers in His word. BUOY will always anchor perspective in God’s word.
If we choose to hear God’s word, He will never stop persuading us, we will live in the love of His divine persuasion for the rest of forever. His revelation in my earthly life is my witness. That’s what people see.
We don’t have faith. God has faith. We don’t keep the faith. He keeps us.
Psalm 86:11
Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.
Thank you for helping me launch Buoy. A buoyed faith rocks with spiritual resilience. A buoyed life guides others to God’s divine persuasion and revelation.
I am committed to 99 episodes on this journey. Go to my home page at kathrynbise.com. Click on the button titled “If you only read this” for my WHY.
And I hope you will join me for Episode 4. What’s the driving question?
I don’t know human. We are about to hit open water.
(click here to listen)
His grace. My gratitude.
See ya on the Buoy.
I encourage you to speak up human. If Buoy brings value to you take a moment to share it with someone. Write a quick review so we reach more seekers. Comment, ask questions.
You can find me at kathrynbise.com and @buoykathrynb on Instagram.
Buoy is a Life in Deeper Water podcast.