Come and See

I love that the theme for the semester at Point University is Adventure. Adventures are exciting and fun! They are the blockbuster summer movies you wait all year to see – you know the ones, with Johnny Depp or Nicholas Cage or (insert other good looking actor) who wants to chase a dream or important object that is going to save the world. I love those movies, because it is never just the one guy going on his own; he always takes his friends along for the ride. Because seriously, how much fun can an adventure be all by yourself?

But that’s the way I operate, whenever I have time to go walk on the trail by my apartment, I always want to take a friend with me. It can even something as simple as cooking dinner or drinking coffee. I usually want to have someone there with me to share the time with.

I’m reminded of the story in the book of John where we meet these two friends named Phillip and Nathaniel. To set the scene, people are just beginning to hear about Jesus for the first time. He is travelling to different cities, meeting all kinds of people and doing really cool and wonderful things. One day Jesus decided to go to Galilee where Phillip and Nathaniel lived.

Jesus finds Phillip and says, “Follow me.”

I think Phillip knew that he was in for a big, exciting adventure when he met Jesus. And what was the first thing Phillip did? He ran as fast as he could to invite his friend, Nathaniel, to join him on the adventure.

Phillip was so excited about meeting Jesus, the man people have been talking about. Phillip was all in right away, open minded and ready for new things. Nathaniel wasn’t as sure as Phillip. He wasn’t quite ready to jump with both feet. Phillip looked at his friend, smiled and said, “Come and see.”

I have been a volunteer with a high school ministry called Young Life for the past four years. This ministry is something that is difficult to describe to others. I could tell you about the crazy games we play or that we jump around singing songs about bananas and Taylor Swift, or that every week we get the chance to tell high school kids about this guy named Jesus who is absolutely crazy about them.

But usually what I tell people is that you have to come and see.

What would that be like for you? What would it be like to jump with both feet into something new and exciting? To experience something completely new? To go on an adventure, and take all your friends with you? What would that be like for you? My hope and prayer for you is that you would say yes to something new. Whatever season of life you might be in, say yes to the adventure that Jesus is inviting you to be a part of. I pray that you would come and see.