by Jilene Scherenske
Lessons from Andrew’s Life
Missionary work begins first at home. With our relatives. It is where Andrew began, and he did not pick the easiest family member to win! But his passion was so great that Peter could not resist. What have you done to win your relatives? Is your passion for Christ so great that they will see it and not be able to resist your invitation to come to Him? Do you possess Andrew’s kind of enthusiasm for the gospel? If not, take a moment now to ask God to give you a joy and a boldness for winning souls.
Can you see the potential in even a small child? Andrew did! That soul was as important to him as any other soul there that day when 5000 were gathered to hear Jesus speak. Have you ever found yourself placing greater worth or greater possibilities on one over another? Ask God to remove the bias in your heart and love everyone equally, no matter how they appear, how they act, or who they are.
Andrew saw the potential in a little boy. I wonder what that boy went on to be? I am convinced he got saved. I wonder, did he follow Jesus as often as he could after that? Did he go home and convince his family of Jesus? Did he and Andrew keep on being friends? Did he witness the cross? I like to think he spent the remainder of his life telling others about Jesus. Too often I think we look upon someone through our own fleshly eyes. We do not see them as God sees them. We limit their worth. Years ago there was a weeklong evangelistic crusade in Scotland. Only one little boy came forward for salvation. The evangelist was disappointed. But he did not realize that this little boy would be so set on fire for Jesus that years later he would open a whole continent for the gospel. His name was David Livingstone. Let us ask God to give us a love for every soul that crosses our path, the clerks in the stores, the people in the cars next to you at a stop light, everyone around you, and then ask God to give you a willingness to share the gospel with whomever He brings to you no matter who they are, no matter what your flesh thinks of them.
Andrew took the ‘barbarians’ to Jesus. These were definitely considered by the Jews to be unworthy people. The Jews considered them to be “dogs”, a definition meaning they were worthless people, scoundrels. But Andrew obviously did not see them as such. By this time, he knew that Jesus would want to see anyone who wanted to see Him. He did not consider who they were, he did not esteem them as unfit, he simply took them to Jesus, even if they were ‘Greeks’.
Andrew brought the 5 loaves and two fishes to Jesus, such a meager meal. Did he have any expectations that Jesus would use it to fill the bellies of over 5000? Perhaps not. He did not try to figure things out, he just simply followed God’s leading and obeyed. Is there something in your life today in which you feel God’s leading, but your flesh is saying that it is silly? If God is in it, nothing is silly in His eyes. Perhaps you have a desire to witness to someone, but you do not have any idea how it could happen. Consider the story of Edward Kimball. His name is but a footnote in the records of history. He was a simple Sunday School teacher who was timid and soft-spoken. A 19-year-old man had begun attending his class and Kimball could see that he was ignorant of the gospel. The Lord led him to speak to this young man about his soul and to confront him at his workplace. On the way there he began to doubt. Was this the right time and the right place? How could the young man pull him away from his duties? Would he embarrass the boy? Would his co-workers tease him for listening to the gospel? He entered the store with great timidity. He found the boy in the stockroom and with fumbling words he made his weak appeal. But amazingly the young man accepted Christ right then and there! That young man was D.L. Moody who went on to be used mightily of the Lord in America and England for almost the entire half of the nineteenth century!
Andrew took second place. He was never worried about being first, he just simply went about doing what God led him to do and was content in that. Is this where you are? Are you content just being in the center of God’s will wherever that leads you, even if it is a behind the scenes place?
Andrew’s ministry is the example of one-on-one evangelistic work. The true story is told of a women who was 82 years old. She was participating in a training session preparing for a Billy Graham crusade. The trainees were encouraged to make a list of 3-10 unsaved people they knew, then pray for them every day, and invite one of them to each of the services. This elderly lady bemoaned the fact that she did not know any unsaved folks. Later during the crusade, she approached the trainer saying, “I’ve been going to the supermarket twice a day on purpose. I used to go only once a week. Every time I’ve gone this week, I made sure I got the same checkout girl. I’ve become friends with her.” Then she pointed to a girl at the altar being dealt with and said, “That’s her!” On another evening she pointed out yet another women at the altar and stated that she had gone to the beauty parlor twice that week, having not been in years. But she made another friend there and now she was also getting saved! She was an Andrew! One by one she brought them to Jesus! Will we go to such effort to do the same? May all of us ask God for open hearts to minister to whomever He puts on our path. Let us ask God for warm and eager hearts to take the effort and make of them friends and love them to Jesus.
What does God want to do with you?
Do you identify with Andrew in any way? God wants you to be a soul winner like Andrew. He wants you to not figure out a situation, but just simply bring your life to Him.
John MacArthur, Twelve Ordinary Men (Thomas Nelson, 2002)
Leslie B. Flynn, The Twelve (Victor Books, 1988)