It struck me last night that there is a difference in following and coming.  I have heard those two words used to denote differences between saved (following Jesus) and unsaved (the invitation to come to Jesus).  However, those two words – follow and come – are both used to describe Jesus’ disciples.  Simon Peter and Andrew hear Jesus say “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”   After Jesus passes through Galilee, healing and preaching and gathering a crowd, he goes up to a mountain,and  his disciples come to him.

Transitioning from following to coming happens in less than a few paragraphs (Matthew 4:19 – 5:1).  The difference is interesting, worth exploring.

When I think about my experiences of following someone – whether in a car on the road to a destination, or whether on foot on a wooded path, following someone means that I have to keep that person (or that car) in sight.  They may drive or move much faster than I would take the journey, but I have to keep up so I don’t lose my way.  I love word meanings, and this word follow has some interesting uses.  We follow the news, we follow our favorite sports team, we follow people on Twitter – and many other things in life.  What we follow is changing and moving, dynamic, not static.  When what we follow stops moving, we stop following.

So, when following, closeness or intimacy is difficult.  I used to guide people through the streets of New York City on tours.  As a New Yorker, my stride was quite a bit faster than the tour groups I was leading, resulting in my having to slow down often to let them catch up to me.  These people followed me at a distance.  We weren’t walking side by side, getting to know each other, but I was in front, charging ahead, and they were trying to keep up with me.  It may seem, when following, the person you are trailing is just far enough ahead of you to be out of reach.  Out of earshot, out of communication range.

I don’t know if the disciples felt that Jesus was taking them on a whirlwind tour – moving and as he passed through towns and village, teaching, healing, and causing a reaction.  They followed him faithfully through all that activity.  But when he stopped and went up to the mountain for a breather, they came.

Coming means something different than following.  When I come, I go with others.  I come for a visit, I come on a trip.  Coming to someone means that the goal is not to move, but to relate.  While it is an action word, to come means that there is a destination to reach and hang out at.

From this little analysis of following and coming  I gain some insights.  There are times when Jesus is on the move, and we are to follow Him.  There are times when He wants to accomplish something, to do something through my life to bless others, and we are called to follow.  Following make take us through some uncharted wilderness, it may cause us to fight some battles we didn’t choose, it may not be the most comfortable pace – in short, we’re in the thick of it.

There are other seasons, though, when we simply come to Jesus, to relate to Him and receive His comfort.  Jesus speaks to us as he did to the people in the towns and cities, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”  It’s time for a rest, child, you’ve been following hard and I’m stopping, and I want you to come to Me.  I will give you rest for a while.

We need to come to Jesus so that we might follow Him, and we need to follow Him that we might come to Him. Both following and coming are part of being His disciples.

If you are on this journey of faith, what season are you in today?  Following – or coming?