Bring along your BFF

John 1:35-41

I’ve never noticed this before. One day while Jesus was walking around and passed by John the disciple, the guys who were with him heard him say “look it’s the Lamb of God” and they just immediately left John to follow Jesus. (side note:that in and of it’s self is some pretty amazing devotion in my opinion!) Jesus saw them, I guess kind of just following behind Him all lost puppy like, and was like “what do you want?” They said they wanted to know where he was staying (odd response I think) and Jesus tells them to come and check it out. So what does Andrew do? He immediately goes and grabs his BFF, his brother, and tells him to come with him.

I kinda love this. It feels like real life to me. I mean, Andrew encounters the Lord, is both feet in and ready to go, but he also wants a friend to come along. Either because he doesn’t want to go alone, or because he thinks this will be pretty amazing and doesn’t want his brother to miss out.

And then it happens again.  John 1:43

Jesus straight walks right up to Phillip and says “Follow me”. And we don’t even get Phillips response (we assume it’s a yes based on his next actions) and he immediately goes to his BFF, Nathanael, and tells him hey dude we’ve found the guy from the OT and I think he’s the real deal. I believe Nathanael is a lot like us, when he’s a tad skeptical and says nothing good can come from Nazareth. So they go and check out this Jesus together and they are both in. Another side note: I love that this narrative is given in the Bible. You have Phillip who is just in, the moment Jesus asks him to be, and Nathanael has the audacity/courage to ask a question. He’s curious, and wants a closer look. And Jesus knows it and isn’t mad at him for it. Jesus is so gracious with us in our insecurities, or hesitations, and He knows Nathanael needs just a little something to prove to him that He is the Messiah. All it takes for Nathanael is simply Jesus telling him where he was right before he showed up there-such a small thing-but it was enough. He just needed a little bit of confirmation, and Jesus was loving enough to take His time with Him, and work through that, so Nathanael would come and Follow Jesus as well.

I’m not exactly sure what I make of this. I guess it was both interesting to me, and a bit reassuring that I really do want to walk with Jesus, with my BFF. My husband, a few close girlfriends, the people in my life that also love Jesus and are willing and wanting to follow Him too. Because, I don’t think the Christian life is meant to be done alone. We need encouragement and accountability. We need those people praying alongside us, with us and for us. And us for them.  It also does this heart good to be reminded of how patient Jesus is, how willing He is to answer our questions and walk us through doubt or uncertainty. But He also expects the best from us, and He is hoping that we will make the choice to obey Him and follow Him,even if/when we don’t have all the answers, we don’t know what the road ahead might look like, or things in the present just don’t make sense. He knows. He knows. And His promise is He will never leave us or forsake us.