NETFLIX

Early in our Netflixing, Sarah (my wife) and I were struggling on who got to choose what to watch.  I enjoyed watching things with plenty of explosions while she enjoyed watching things with plenty of dialogue.  Dialogue vs. explosions, this became our disagreement.  So, we came up with the perfect compromise:  We’d do this back and forth thing—explosion show, dialogue show, explosion show, dialogue show…you get the idea.

Something interesting started to happen.  The more time I spent with Sarah, watching her shows, the more I got into what she’s into. 

Me: “What she say?” 

Sarah: “What?”

Me: “What did she just say?” 

Sarah: “Who?” 

Me: “That girl in the show.  I missed it.  It’s important to the story.  What did she just say?  Wait…which one is she?  Is she that one from before?  Oh…I think I know what’s going on!  Oooooo, this is getting gooooooood!”

What’s happened?  I’m getting passionate about what she’s passionate about.  How did it happen?  By spending time with her.  The more I’m with her the more she’s beginning to rub off on me.

This came to a head when I came home one day to find out that she’d been watching her show without me. 

Me: “What are you watching?”

Sarah: “My show.”

Me: “What show? You’re not watching our show, are you?” 

Sarah: “I thought you didn’t like it?”

Me: “Whaaaaaat?!  What’s going on?  What did I miss? You can’t be watching our show without me!  We’re going to have to go back to where I left off…”

The lesson here is this:  The more time you send with someone the more they’ll begin to rub off on you.

This is what Jesus said in Matthew 4: And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fisherman.  Then He said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."  They immediately left their nets and followed Him.  Matthew 4:18-20 (NKJV)

What’s Jesus saying?  “If you follow Me, I’ll rub off on you.  If you hang out with me, what I’m passionate about, you’ll be passionate about.  If you follow me, I’ll make you just like me, driven by the goal of reaching people for the Kingdom.”  Are you driven by that goal?  If not, you need to ask yourself how close you’re following Him.  According to scripture, it's impossible for someone to say they're near Jesus and not be concerned that others are far from Jesus.  My concern is that for some “Christians” the Great Commission has become the Great Suggestion!  I put “Christians” in quotes for a reason.  A Christian is simply a Christ follower.  And if your following Him, He’ll make you like Him.  So, my question to you today is how close are you following Him?