Follow

The call

Jesus's first invitation was two words: follow me. Not "clean yourself up," not "master the doctrine first" — follow. When He said it by the Sea of Galilee, Peter and Andrew were mid-shift, nets in hand:

“Immediately they left their nets and followed him.”Matthew 4:20

A disciple is not someone who has it all together. It is someone who has heard the call and started walking. The nets — whatever we were gripping for security — get left on the shore.

Repent & believe

The first words of Jesus's public preaching tell us exactly how the walk begins:

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”Mark 1:15

Repentance means turning around — not merely feeling sorry, but stopping, turning, and walking the other way. Believing means entrusting yourself to Jesus the way you trust a bridge: not admiring it from the bank, but stepping onto it with your whole weight.

“Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out.”Acts 3:19

A prayer to begin

If you are ready to turn and believe, you can tell God so right now. There is nothing magic in these words — God listens to hearts, not scripts — but they can lend you language for the turning:

Counting the cost

Jesus never hid the price of following Him. He told would-be builders to sit down and estimate before laying a foundation (Luke 14:28), and He described the walk like this:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”Luke 9:23

Following will cost you: some comfort, some pride, some plans, and every rival throne in your heart. He asks for everything — and gives more than everything. Jesus compared the kingdom to treasure hidden in a field: the man who found it sold all he had, with joy, to buy that field (Matthew 13:44).

Your first steps

• Tell someone today. Faith grows when it is spoken aloud (Romans 10:9–10).
• Be baptized. The outward step that marks the inward change — a burial of the old, a rising of the new (Matthew 28:19, Romans 6:3–4).
• Find a church. You were never meant to walk alone (Hebrews 10:24–25). Here's what to look for →
• Start Day 1 below.

Your first 40 days

For the next forty days, take one short passage and one small act of obedience each day. No streaks, no scores — just one step at a time. Here is how the walk begins:

1. Matthew 4:18–22 — Tell one person you have decided to follow Jesus.
2. John 1:35–51 — Invite someone to "come and see" for themselves.
3. Luke 5:1–11 — Surrender one area you have been holding back.
4. Matthew 5:1–16 — Do one hidden act of kindness today.
5. John 15:1–11 — Choose a daily time and place to read and pray.

The full 40-day plan arrives with the growing site — but these five are enough to begin. When you finish them, keep reading Matthew, one chapter a day.