PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: Matthew 4:18-22
What do you sense the Lord saying to you in this passage?
“At once they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:20)
I am trying to imagine myself in this moment… what would I do?
Jesus, mystery man from Nazareth, picks me for a strange assignment.
There is something compelling in Him, something that draws me to say ‘yes’.
But to leave my current life, all that I know, my livelihood, my comfort?
For the disciples these nets were more than things, they were their life.
Makes me wonder what the nets are that I am holding, or that are holding me?
Jesus, mystery man from Nazareth, has called me for a strange assignment too.
He wants to use me to help people find love and joy and peace and hope.
He is sending me to love and bless others in His Name, so they are drawn to Him.
So what are the things that are holding me back from doing this?
Fear of what might happen, fear of what people might think?
Love of comfort and of what I know; lack of courage, lack of confidence in Jesus?
I know there are ‘nets’ holding me back, keeping me from living fully free in Jesus.
Jesus is calling me, He wants to use me to bless others… will I go “at once”?
PRAYER
Lord, there are still nets holding me back (even though I am a ‘pastor’) Call me louder and clearer, and may the sound of Your call give me courage to let go and follow You!
I often heard that where I am and what I am doing is where Jesus would want me to be and do. Therefore, I could wonder where else I could go or do or fish? Yet I feel where I am is the vineyard God has placed me in to show his light wherever I am. I do not do it perfectly but with the help of the Holy Spirit I am doing what I think is pleasing to God. pr
God’s call.
God uses common people His wonders to perform.
They were not special. They did not say that they were not equipped for the task. They became His instruments of peace.
And so I need to do the same. Justanswer the call.
Listen to His voice.
Do His bidding.
He will empower.
Lord help me to be a faithful witness to all I meet aand greet.
Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there’s despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy
O Divine Master
grant that I may not so much
seek to be consoled as to console
to be understood, as to understand
to be loved as to love
For it is in giving that
we receive
It is in pardoning
that we are pardoned
And it is dying
that we are born to eternal life
“And they immediately left the nets and followed Him.” (vs. 20)
Whenever I read this passage, I always marvel at how readily Peter & Andrew, James & John left their fishing jobs to pursue Jesus. Would I have done that? I think I would’ve hesitated… Why did it seem so easy for them? What would I have to let go of in order to “immediately follow”? Help me, Jesus, to see what holds me back from fully following you.