The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, "Look, the Lamb of God!" John 1:35-36

Our Lord's first two disciples were Andrew and John. From their example we note several stages in the process of becoming a more understanding and committed disciple.

First, Andrew and John were discoverers. With the hope of their former teacher, John the Baptist, they became aware of Jesus as "the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). On the basis of John's testimony, and their personal association with Jesus, they became convinced that they had discovered the promised Redeemer of whom the Scriptures speak. They exclaimed, "We have found the Messiah" (John 1:41).

Andrew and John proceeded to step two in their discipleship: They became followers of Jesus. They stayed in His company to share the experiences of His life and ministry, to learn from Him, to grow in faith through the Word He proclaimed, and to serve Him. Those who have come to know Jesus as the Christ can't help but make the proper response. From being discoverers they go on to become followers.

Third, Jesus' first two recruits, Andrew and John, proceeded to fulfill another important aspect of their discipleship: They in turn became recruiters - and among persons right in their own midst. Both had brothers with whom they started: Andrew with Peter and John with James. They told them: "We have found the Messiah!" As recruiters we follow in the footsteps of Christ's first disciples when we tell people near and dear to us: "Come with us to Christ; He will do you good."

Discovering Christ (that is, being found by Him), doing what He says, and sharing His Word with people near and dear to us - these are three important stages in discipleship.

PRAYER: Help me, O Lord Jesus, to be Your disciple and share Your Word with those who are near and dear to me. Amen.

(Devotions from "With Jesus Every Day" copyright 1997, CPH. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be printed, reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. Permission is granted for one-time emailing of this link to a friend. For information on other devotional material, please contact CPH at 800-325-3040 or visit CPH at www.cph.org.)

Today's Bible Readings: Ecclesiastes 10-12    Acts 10:24-48

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