Thursday, June 2, 2011

The story of Andrew is found in Matthew 4:18-20.

Influential Men of the Bible: Andrew
The story of Andrew is found in Matthew 4:18-20.
The name Andrew is a Greek name which means “manly” or “of valor.” Andrew, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, was the brother of Simon Peter. He was born in Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, and he and his brother were both fisherman. Before he met Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. However, when John pointed to Jesus as the Lamb of God, Andrew realized that Jesus was the Messiah and immediately left John, found his brother Peter, and became a disciple of Jesus (John 1:35-42). After deciding to follow Jesus, he was transformed from a fisherman to a “fisher of men” (Matthew 4:18).
Most of what we know about Andrew comes from the Gospel of John. John reveals Andrew as one who was constantly bringing people to Jesus. He began by bringing his brother Peter to Jesus. Later, as Jesus is teaching the multitudes on the mountainside, it was Andrew who brought the boy with five barley loaves and two fish to Jesus. Jesus took the two fish and five loaves of bread and miraculously multiplies them into enough food to feed everyone (John 6:8-11). And it was Andrew who during the Passover Feast brought a group of Greeks (Gentiles) to meet Jesus (John 12:20-22), which prompts Jesus to remark “when I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to myself” (John 12:32). Andrew knew that Jesus came not only to save Israel but everyone on the earth.
You may not hear many sermons preached on Andrew, but his role is no less significant. He had a tendency of bringing all the right people to Jesus. We should never despise what God has qualified us to do. Everyone in the Kingdom is significant. I’m convinced that we can be a greater blessing to the Body of Christ by being committed to helping someone else, rather than doing our own thing. Look at the fruit Andrew bore because of being committed to helping Jesus. Proverbs 28:20 says, “A faithful man will abound in blessings.” And if God can trust us with the little things, He’ll also be able to trust us with greater responsibilities (Luke 16:10).

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