18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
The visual picture of these men dropping everything to follow Jesus is beautiful. These men were successful fisherman. It is not like they followed Jesus because they were out of options. They followed Him because they knew that real LIFE would be found in Him. I know for me, there are so many things in this world that I hold on to because they are comfortable. How many of us know that God is calling us to something? How many of us always think, “Lord, I will do that as soon as I get my house in order”. “I will do it as soon as I finish this next project at work”. “I will do it when my kids are a little older. “ There are always a million reasons we can use as to why we don’t want to take a leap of faith in obedience. Because honestly sometimes obedience is scary. Sometimes He is asking us to leave things that are comfortable, secure and familiar. The thing about our God is that He promises us that “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake WILL FIND IT.” Is God asking you to lose your current situation in life in order to REALLY find your life?
Joy in Obedience is where Life is found. Obedience does not always mean that it will be easy, comfortable or a path that makes sense to this world. BUT His promises are true. This life is short. So let’s all strive to lay down our nets in the little things, but also lay down our nets in the BIG things. What is the Lord calling you to do? What nets do you need to lay down to follow Him? Whatever that is, He promises that He will be with us, equip us, and sustain us! May we all be found worthy of our calling as we lay down our nets, leave our boats and fathers, and follow after our Savior with all that we have in us!!!
