I hope you enjoyed the first part of the series. If you haven’t read Part 1, kindly open this link to read on Separated Unto God ( Lessons From Daniel ) – Part 1. In this Part 2 I talk about the 12 disciples. I will share a few insights about how Jesus called and separated the 12 disciples and used them mightily.
In Matthew Chapter 4:18 the bible says
18 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. 19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
The first dimension of the Call to be separated unto God is to become a follower and to let go of things that are not needed on your journey with Jesus Christ. There were so many fishermen but Grace found Peter and Andrew his brother. Today Jesus has also selected you from many people across the world and He is calling you to become a follower of Him. To be separated from God is to be called to be a follower of Jesus. When Jesus met Andrew and Peter. He called them to become His followers. The Bible says in Matthew Chapter 4: 20 They immediately left their nets and followed Him. The nets that they were using were no longer needed in their call to be Separated from Jesus. In the case of the disciples they had to let go of their jobs, in your case it might be something else. There are many things that we are still holding on to that are not needed in our new walk with Jesus. We have to let go of our selfishness, idolatry, pride, love for money and fornication, pornography addiction etc Once you are still holding onto these things you can not take the bold step to follow Jesus wholeheartedly as the 12 disciples did. They were ready to let go of their nets which brought them profit and money to follow Jesus. It might seem that that job or behaviour is bringing you joy or profit but you should note that following Jesus will bring you greater joy and fulfilment than that temporary net you are holding unto.
When Zacheus, who the bible described as a rich tax collector, encountered Jesus in Luke Chapter 19 he immediately let go of the riches he got by false accusation. He was ready to let go of the net he had in order to follow Jesus. Luke 19: 8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” As Human beings there are things we are holding onto that are not of Christ and we must be ready to let go of them in order to follow Jesus Christ.
Also in Matthew 4:21, the bible says that 21 Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him. Jesus chose James and John for the separation unto Him but their own father did not make the cut. The Bible says that the two brothers left their boat and father and followed Jesus. Once you choose to walk with Jesus you should be ready to walk away from certain relationships. There are some relationships that will hinder your walk with Jesus. There are family and friends who are a bad influence and anytime you are with them you have lustful conversations, you gossip and they even discourage you from following Jesus with all your heart. You know them, there are friends who always talk about sex, fornication, etc I pray God to give you the boldness to be able to walk away from them. These brothers ( James and John ) left their own father in order to walk with Jesus Christ. Who knows whether their father was the driving force behind them being fishermen if they did not gather the courage to walk away from Him, he might constantly be forcing them to come back to fishing instead of the glorious walk with Jesus.
Jesus selected the 12 disciples to follow Him. They all walked away from their day jobs and distractions of the world in order to follow Him. They walked with Him for 3 and half years while Jesus was on earth. One thing the 12 disciples did when they walked with Jesus was to give Him all their attention. They listened to Him preach the word, watched Him perform miracles and they inquired of Him when they wanted clarity on issues. The walk with Jesus is a walk with the word ( bible ) for Jesus is the word ( John 1:1) . The new testament is full of Jesus preaching and teaching the word. To be separated from God means to give your undivided attention to the Word. It is very difficult to give Jesus all your attention in this day and age. There are many distractions like movies, social media etc and these things are constantly fighting for our attention. What do you spend a lot of time on? Funny videos on social media and WhatsApp group chats. It is time to give the bible undivided attention. The Bible says in Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The disciples were able to grow their faith by constantly hearing the word of God from Jesus and it increased their faith. No wonder they were able to exercise great faith to do greater works after Jesus ascended to heaven. It is time for us to also increase our faith by reading and hearing the word of God. You can read the bible, download audio biblical books and listen to men of God who preach the word of truth ( The bible ). This is why you are separated from the world to spend more time with Jesus’ word. You can start by giving him at least ten minutes of your time per day and it will increase over time
The disciples depended on Jesus for everything; for their food, water, needs and everything. When you choose to follow Jesus you should trust and depend on Jesus for everything. The Bible says in Proverbs 3:6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; They followed Jesus and trusted He will take care of them. They did not have any other option than Jesus. In life, we always have a plan B but these disciples only Had plan A and that was Jesus. Do you want to have Jesus as your only plan or want to have multiple options? These disciples lacked nothing when they walked with Jesus. When they were Hungry He fed them ( Remember how He fed His followers with a few loaves of bread and fish – Matthew 14:13-21 ) and when they needed accommodation people were ready to offer them places to rest. Luke 22:7-14 Once you are separated unto Jesus make this scripture your best friend Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Finally, the call to be separated from God or to be called to follow Jesus is a call to become fishers of men. Jesus told the disciples Matthew 4:19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Jesus called the 12 disciples and is calling you today so that you can become a fisher of men. This calling is to learn all about Jesus in order to help bring more people into the Kingdom of God. There are many souls perishing and on their way to hell. Jesus is calling you in order to tell people about Him, Jesus, in order to turn them from darkness to light. Before Jesus ascended into heaven His command to us was for us to be fishers of men. Matthew 28:19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, You cannot go out if you haven’t read the word or given your attention to Jesus Christ. The 12 disciples followed Jesus with their hearts and obeyed his last command and today we have received this separation because of their obedience. There is someone around you who needs to hear about Jesus and that is why you are called unto this separation.
God bless you and I pray God gives you the boldness to be able to follow him and to become a fisher of man. I will be writing about the story of Moses and how he chose to be separated unto God.
