The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
Dods points out that “In Jewish lips ‘we have found the Messiah’ was the most comprehensive of all Eurekas.” (NICNT, John p.159) Can you picture Andrew finding his brother and giving him this news?
There are many ways we can come to Jesus. Andrew and his friend (probably John) came on their own. They were looking for the Messiah and they found Him. Peter came because someone brought him to Jesus.
Note that Andrew was not told to tell anyone about Christ; it just came naturally. And so it should with us. We have incredibly good news and to keep it to ourselves should be very difficult. It is not easy to keep good news to yourself. Andrew was a disciple for less than a day and had already made another disciple of Christ.
It is his brother that Andrew goes to first bring to Jesus. Those closest to us are those to whom we should go first. They should be our first priority. We should minister to our own families before we minister to others. Notice the expanding list of priorities Jesus gives in (Acts 1:8).
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The sad thing is that we sometimes seek to bring others to Christ before we do so for those closest to us. There is an old proverb that says, “The shoemaker’s wife is always the worst shod.”
We are all capable of bringing others to Christ. Andrew did not go to seminary; he was just a fisherman. We don’t need a lot of knowledge; we don’t need the ability to refute false thinking. All we need is a personal knowledge of Him. Maclaren tells of “a minister who preached a very elaborate course of lectures in refutation of some form of infidelity, for the special benefit of a man that attended his place of worship. Soon after, the man came and declared himself a Christian. The minister said to him, ‘Which of my discourses was it that removed your doubts?’ The reply was, ‘Oh! it was not any of your sermons that influenced me. The thing that set me thinking was that a poor woman came out of the chapel beside me, and stumbled on the steps, and I stretched out my hand to help her, and she said “Thank you!” Then she looked at me and said, “Do you love Jesus Christ, my blessed Saviour?” And I did not, and I went home and thought about it; and now I can say I love Jesus.’ The poor woman’s word, and her frank confession of her experience, were all the transforming power.”