October 17, 2012
SCRIPTURE: Matthew 4:18-22
OBSERVATIONS
1. Follow me. Notice He does not say ‘believe in Me’, though faith in Him would be assumed in a decision to follow. Too often we focus on believing, rather than following (hence my blog title, an attempt to change this). To believe should involve following, but often it remains an intellectual thing for people. No change in life or purpose, just a mental agreement, with the comfort of being saved and going to heaven. How many ‘Christians’ today would actually have followed Jesus, joined with Him on His journey, in His mission?
2. To fish for people. To bait them, hook them, then to reel them in? This is not always a positive analogy. But they used nets, not bait and hooks. For Jesus, the idea is not about tricking people (bait) to catch them, but casting the message out there (like a net, or like a sower casts the seed). I am not a fisherman nor a sower, but I can cast the message (ie share it with as many people as possible), and leaving the ‘catch’ or the ‘harvest’ to Him.
3. At once and immediately. Quit their job, left their family. Very sudden and extreme. This was not the first time they met (John 1:35-42), so it was not totally out of the blue. But this does show how serious and radical a decision it is to follow Jesus, yet that seems lost for us today. This was no ‘Sunday Christianity’, they were totally readjusting their lives and purposes around Jesus and His mission.
What do you notice in this passage?
APPLICATION
1. Once again the Lord is challenging me to think through very seriously what it means for me to follow Him. Is there a radical adjustment I need to make in my life – in regards to my priorities, my values, how I live my life, how I spend my time, how I use my gifts? Is my Christianity too safe, too comfortable, too easy?
2. I am reminded and encouraged to keep the focus of my work (as a Jesus follower, not just as a pastor) on sharing (casting) Jesus, His message and mission. This is the net, this is the seed. Not church building, not church programs, not church activities, but talking about and pointing to Jesus.
3. Radical commitment, that is the phrase going through my mind right now. The usual response to Jesus often seen is the church seems too tame, too safe. Yet the idea of ‘radical’ makes me nervous. Radical people make me uncomfortable (just being honest). Does my following Jesus need a jolt of ‘radidal’? If so, what would that look like?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
God, You deserve my whole response, not just a token or shallow faith. Yet I am so caught in normal, tame, safe Christianity. Call me again (like you did Peter), and help me to understand what it means for me to follow You.
Sad, it is so much easier to share Jesus when you start by showing Jesus. Thanks for sharing this story.
Reading this passage, and the subsequent comments, reminds me of an experience I had a few years ago. My husband was at work with the car and I needed groceries. I walked to the store with my then infant son strapped to me in a baby carrier, pushing a small cart. I walked back home … exhausted from holding my son, pushing the cart, and holding a bag of groceries in the other hand. Two men met me as I approached my building. I thought perhaps they were going to offer to get the door for me, but instead they asked me if I went to church. When I politely answered yes, and attempted to continue to my building, they began asking questions about my church, my beliefs etc. I remember thinking “did they REALLY think that was the best way to approach me?”. If we see someone in desparate need of a drink of water, should we talk to them about how good God is, but not offer them a drink? I am often unsure of how to share Jesus with others, but when I look at how Jesus interacted with people it usually was with actions first and words second. My prayer is that God continues to open my heart, and allows me to connect with people in a way that points them to Him.
Observations:
Jesus calls and the fishermen follow.
The fishermen were doing their daily task – working in the Kingdom – when Jesus called them. And they at once followed Him. No other choice.
The fishermen were selected because of their special qualities and not of their position – patience, persistence, knowledgeable, diligence, etc
Reminds me of a hero of the faith – what would you be doing when Christ comes? I would be doing my work as I always am doing – working in His ‘vineyard.’
When Christ cals, He calls and we are hooked.
Application:
I too have been chosen to follow Jesus doing my task -my assigned task from Him – joyfully each day and there is no turning back. It costs – leaving family and gainful employment – to be in training and then doing ‘full time service.’ Catching men for Christ!
When He calls there is no other choice but to do.
When I follow, I am totally dependent upon His grace, His power, His leadership, His Way. All for Jesus.
Prayer:
Help me Lord on my way for it is by Your grace I can live each day doing what I have been called to do.
1. Jesus calls us o’er the tumult
of our life’s wild, restless sea;
day by day his sweet voice soundeth,
saying, “Christian, follow me!”
2. As of old the apostles heard it
by the Galilean lake,
turned from home and toil and kindred,
leaving all for Jesus’ sake.
3. Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying, “Christian, love me more!”
4. In our joys and in our sorrows,
days of toil and hours of ease,
still he calls, in cares and pleasures,
“Christian, love me more than these!”
5. Jesus calls us! By thy mercies,
Savior, may we hear thy call,
give our hearts to thine obedience,
serve and love thee best of all.