12 During those days He went out to the mountain to pray and spent all night in prayer to God. 13 When daylight came, He summoned His disciples, and He chose twelve of them, whom He also named apostles: ~ Luke 6:12-13CSB
When we think about the twelve disciples being called, we think about them being Jesus’ only disciples, but that wasn’t the case. Jesus had many disciples. Many people were following Him because of the great miracles and healing He was doing. Because of the great wisdom and authority, He was preaching with.
Jesus didn’t just see them and instantaneously pick them as the Twelve. No. They were called to follow Him like many others were. Then, they followed Him like many others did. It wasn’t until Jesus spent all night in prayer, most likely specifically about this, that He then chose the Twelve.
Jesus called many people. There was a large crowd following Him, yet only twelve were chosen. James, the brother of Jesus, understood this when he wrote:
8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8CSB
James wasn’t one of Jesus’ apostles. James wasn’t even one of Jesus’ disciples. He didn’t draw near to Him, and he missed his opportunity. When Jesus taught that He was the bread of life and they must eat His flesh to be saved, many left because they couldn’t understand the teaching. When Jesus looked at the others, they asked them if they would leave Him, too. Peter replied:
68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
John 6:68-69CSB
Many are called, but few are chosen. Few hold on when they don’t understand. Few continue to seek when finding is hard. Few believe when they can’t see. Few stay strong when their faith is tested. Few run the race set before them.
Jesus said He’s knocking at the door, waiting for us to open our hearts to Him. He didn’t say He knocked on only red doors or blue doors. He said that He was knocking. That means He’s knocking at the door of all of our hearts. He’s calling all of us, but very few even accept the initial call. And even fewer continue to follow and carry their cross.
Which one are you? This earth is filled with reasons not to believe and follow Christ. It’s filled with distraction after distraction. Evil after evil. Wickedness and lawlessness rule our land. There’re so many reasons not to believe, but as Peter said, where else can we go to find the Words of Life? Words that redeem and Sanctify. Words that heal what is broken and restore what has been crushed. Only in Christ do you have a hero die for the villain to save his soul. There’s no other story like our story.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Be Chosen.
Similar Content
