Andrew Invited

Andrew Invited
January 28, 2012
John 1:42  "And he brought him to Jesus."

When you look at the time-line of Jesus calling His disciples, you'll see that Andrew was one of His first followers.  In fact, Andrew was one of the first to believe Jesus was the Christ.  And the very first thing Andrew did was to invite His brother, Peter, to come and meet Jesus who was/is the Messiah.  Andrew is not mentioned in the Bible very often but his brother, Peter, is probably the most famous disciple.  Peter's contributions to Christianity were significant.  The church would not be what it is today without Peter's work thousands of years ago.  But Peter couldn't have done a thing for Christ if he had never come to know Him.  Andrew was credited for bringing Peter to Christ and I'm thankful he did.

Had Andrew not invited his brother to meet the Savior our world would be a different place.  While Peter is not necessarily more important than Andrew, if Andrew had not invited his brother to meet Jesus, then Peter might not have ever come to know the Lord.  This goes to show how important one person's work is for the Lord.  Andrew's work was critical and I'm thankful he brought his brother to the Lord.  Every great man or woman of God was invited or brought to the Lord by someone else.  You possibly have a similar story of someone else bringing you to the Lord.  Or maybe you grew up in the church, in which case you should thank your parents for bringing you to the Lord.  Either way, none of us would know the Savior if someone else had not invited us to meet Him.

Understanding what Andrew did for his brother, Peter, is critical to our Christian walk.  We are to be like Andrew and invite others to the Lord.  It is not your job to force Jesus upon someone, but it IS your job to invite them, especially if they have never been invited before.  If you invite someone to church or invite someone to understand your Christianity, it does not mean he or she will accept the invitation.  It is not your job to force that.  People will come to the Lord when they are ready, but they CAN NOT come to the Lord if they have never been invited.  Peter would never have come to the Savior if Andrew had not invited him.

When you invite people to the Lord, you are helping to fulfill the Lord's design for their lives.  You might be inviting the next "Peter" to church.  Consequently, I wonder how many people have never met the Lord, people who would have gone on to do great exploits for the Lord like Peter, simply because they were never invited.  I shudder to think of the people I could have brought to the Lord over the years but simply didn't.  You and I have no excuse.  It is complete laziness, apathy, and selfishness if we don't invite others to know the one who can give eternal life.  The number one reason why people never go to church is a sad reason: because they have never been invited.  While you may be introverted and feel intimidated, surely there is at least one person in your life that you could invite to the Lord.  Here is a great motivator for you: just imagine what your own life would be like if you had never met Jesus.  Andrew invited his brother to the Lord, what did you do this week?

Don't take my word for it; look it up:   Matthew 4:19, Matthew 28:18-20, John 1:40-48