Daily devotion – 12 men chosen!
Mark 3: 13 And He went up on the mountain and called to Him those He Himself wanted. And they came to Him. 14 Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach, 15 and to have power to heal sicknesses and to cast out demons: 16 Simon, to whom He gave the name Peter; 17 James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James, to whom He gave the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”; 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Cananite; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed Him. And they went into a house.
Jesus called 12 men to be His disciples. God chooses and ordains His own! Men do not self-appoint themselves to be servants of God.
Jesus time on earth would come to an end. He would return from where He had come. Jesus would entrust His work to trained and willing missionaries. He would teach these men personally – He called them Apostles.
Choosing these 12 men would be one of Christ’s greatest of all decisions. One would be a betrayer – Judas Iscariot. These men would spend their days now with Jesus.
Simon is listed first – Jesus surnamed him Peter – see verse 16.
A professional fisherman would become a great man of faith under Christ. His life was in two parts really, his former profession and now God’s calling on him.
Simon was impulsive, indignant and at times inspired. Jesus would teach him how to catch men. Yes, Jesus knew he would deny Him but He also knew that Simon would gladly lay down his life for his Saviour which he eventually went on to do.
From weakness Peter became a rock!
We don’t choose to follow Jesus, the Bible tells us that He chose us – Jhn 15:16 “You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Jhn 15:19 “If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
2Th 2:13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth,
Over the next days we will be looking at this amazing group of men chosen by God to be His new ‘nation’.
We will learn that the call of God on our lives is one of the most amazing things that could ever happen to us. That it would have both a direct impact upon our life now and on through eternity!
This week, when you open God’s Word, when you sit at His feet in prayer, listen for God’s direction upon your life. He has chosen you and called you for a purpose and that purpose is to serve Him in the kingdom of God!