What was it about Jesus of Nazareth which made such a powerful impression on Peter and the other young fishermen? So powerful was it that they left their nets and followed him! Isaiah’s prophecy had been: “He has no form or comeliness, and when we see him there is no beauty that we should desire him.” (Isaiah 53:2) So, that first impression on Peter and the others would have been more powerful spiritually than physically.
Three years later, Jesus made the same powerful impression on Pontius Pilate when Jesus was arrested and brought before him, then Caiaphas the high priest, and then again before Pilate, who questioned him, found no fault in him, and then left it a hostile, murderous crowd to pass sentence on him. After examining Jesus, Pilate had found him faultless, yet, regardless, ordered him to be scourged and then crucified.
The first impression of Jesus on Pontius Pilate must have been as strong as the one the Lord made on those weather-beaten young fishermen who had left all to follow him, and on everyone since.
It certainly was on me when, at 21 years of age, I knelt down and asked Jesus to save me from my sins. He came to me that night in the same Spirit that was upon him when he said to those rugged fishermen: “Follow me” — and they did. The impression Jesus made on me was so powerful that I resolved then and there to leave my old life and to follow him in a new one.
Jesus still makes powerful impressions — as you’ll find out when you do what those fishermen did, and what so many others, myself included, did, which was leave that which we could not keep to gain that which we could not lose. The impression Jesus will make on you will also be a powerful and lasting one.
The saying, “You’ll never get a second chance to make a first impression” is very true. Everything in life diminishes, and the same is true of the opportunity to follow Jesus.
Don’t disregard that call, because the Lord Jesus will pass on by and your opportunity to follow him might never come again. Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father, who has sent me.” My own awareness of personal sins and the fear that the Lord might not call me again was why, 63 years ago, I surrendered to the Lord Jesus. I urge you to do the same.
Leave all, and follow the call!