John 11:54
Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
Reflection
After Jesus gave the invitation for his disciples to follow them the ball was then in their court. They needed to respond. Either they would follow Jesus and learn from him by associating with him or they would say “no” and go their own way.
We learn from the scripture that they responded and decided to follow Jesus. When they decided to follow Jesus the response was immediate. They left and followed him right at that moment. They were ready. They wanted to follow Jesus. They wanted to learn everything they could from him.
When we invite others to join us in the journey of discipleship then we must give them the opportunity to respond. Their response might not be as immediate as the response that Peter, Andrew, James and John gave to Jesus. However, we must be patient. The journey of discipleship through association cannot begin until the one we have invited to join us has given the consent to walk with us in discipleship.
Spend some time in prayer today asking God to send you to the person whom you are to help on their journey of discipleship. Then pray that God will help them to respond positively to your invitation.
If you are already discipling someone, pray that the time you spend associating with one another will produce fruit for both of your discipleship journeys.
