“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. 20 He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.” -Mark 1:16-20 (NLT)
Jesus called out to them, “Come follow me.” Jesus called out to fishermen, not to Pharisees, scribes, rabbis, politicians, movie stars, professional athletes, or the popular kid at your high school. Jesus called out to the normal guy, sometimes to the unpopular kids like the tax collectors, the zealots, and the prostitutes.
These were the people that Jesus asked to follow him. These were the people he loved, taught, mentored, and empowered to preach and proclaim the Kingdom of God. But when Jesus called out to Simon, Andrew, James and John, these men had no clue what Jesus had in store for them, but they dropped everything they knew to follow him. These men could have stayed in the comfort of what they knew, but they must have known something was different about Jesus.
When Jesus first called out to you, you had no clue where he would take you in your journey, but you knew you could trust him. The path that Jesus called his first disciples and you today is not the easiest path, but it is the best path. Maybe this Lent season we have been holding tight on our nets, our profession, our home, our position, our pride and Jesus is calling out to drop what we have and follow him again.
When we drop our nets and when we surrender to Jesus, we will experience freedom. We will experience the best that Jesus has in store for us.
James Ballard has been the speaker at Delanco Camp in the past and lives in Kentucky. Image credit: Jose Fares, via CreationSwap
