The God’s “come” and “Go” command

Our God is the creator of this universe, hence when He commands, we ought to obey His commands. There are two commands that He always gives to His people “Come” and “Go”. Both these words combined together can be termed as the calling of God. When a person comes to God, He heals, tests and prepare the person for a purpose. When God tells him to “Go”, God specifies the purpose of that person on this earth or what God wants him to do in the short span of his life.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him.  Mathew 4:19,20

These words were spoken by Jesus to Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were called to follow Him, and they became the first disciples of Christ on this earth. They were fishermen by profession but God called them and promised them to make fishers of men. They at once left all their belongings and followed Him. When God calls, most people leave everything and follow him. Sinners repent when He calls. Mathew, Zacchaeus are some other examples, they were called and at once a change happened in their lives. They decided to leave their old self, and live a new life. Most of the disciples of God are called in this way.

God calls people so that they may get something. He calls the tired and weary, to give them rest. He calls the thirsty so that they may have streams of living water flowing within them. He commands people to ‘come’ for He loves them, and knows what they require. He calls them and transform them completely. If we respond to His calling and ‘come’ to His presence, He will transform us. When He calls people  He promises them to make them something extraordinary. He promises to make a worm Jacob into a threshing-sledge. He promises Zerubbabel to make Him like His signet ring. The promises seem to delight and strengthen us. But these promises are meant for some greater purpose which would be known when God commands us to ‘go’.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.” Acts 9:11, 12.

When God commands people to ‘Go’, people are mostly reluctant. Unlike the command of ‘come’, this command is difficult. Fun fact is God never asks people their preference. He just commands them to ‘Go’. Ananias, was commanded to go to Saul to heal him. God had already showed Saul who is going to come. God does not need Ananias’ nod or permission. In Bible, we find many instances where God commands people to “Go!”. When He does so, one thing is sure, He is aware of the whole situation.  He sends only those who are equipped with His weapons, which they got when He called them.

God sends out his disciples after giving them authority over evil spirits and over disease and sickness. God sends out Moses after giving him signs. He won’t send his servants empty handed. He had called them and prepared them for this purpose.   

See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant. Jeremiah 1:10

Jeremiah was told to ‘go’ to everyone God sends him to. He was set apart even before he was formed in the womb. Now he was appointed over kingdoms and nations. He was appointed to tear down, and uproot nations. He was appointed to overthrow, plant and build kingdoms. It would sound majestic. We can imagine Jeremiah to be some sort of Kingmaker when we hear this promise. But the truth be told He is widely known as the weeping prophet. The process of fulfilling the promise turned him into a weeping prophet. He watered what he planted with his tears. His tears uprooted the nations.

The journey of a person from “come” to “go” is not easy. The promise might seem something extraordinary. But the cost to reach the end would be very expensive. There would be many to cheer for the athlete in a race. But only the athlete knows the real worth of his victory. Or what cost him his victory. Sharpened arrows, be ready for His call, He is searching the QUIVER OF GOD.