February 2 12 Real Guys

Twelve Real Guys

Mark 3:16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder); 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

QUITE a draft day, isn’t it? The Lord Jesus is the General Manager, the owner, the head coach wrapped into one. He has “drafted” 12 young men (most around the age of a college sports draftee) of various skills and abilities to form a world-changing team.
They are ordinary men with no particular reputation. He drafts them from the fishing boats, from the streets, from a tax collector’s booth, from obscurity, and he calls them into an eternal purpose.
As a draftee comes into a professional team to learn a new system of how the team functions, these men will need training. They need to know who the opponent is. They need to know the plan to defeat the opponent. Jesus is calling these men to be on the team, and he needs their full commitment to be an effective team member. He calls them disciples.
Of course, the one nagging question is, “Why did Jesus choose Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him?” It seems to make no sense. But, in God’s plan to send Jesus to the cross, there would have to be one close to Jesus who would reject him. It seems so unfair that Jesus would purposefully call one to betray him.
The reality is, though, the ultimate unfairness in our lives is that God so loved you, a sinner, that Jesus, the only one without sin, would die for you. Makes no sense—we get what we don’t deserve.


Pause and consider that even though our hearts betray Jesus, he has chosen you to be his.