Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. Those were the words Jesus spoke to Peter and
Andrew, and James and John. These men
were fishermen. It’s what they did. I imagine that it might be all they
knew. Imagine the surprise of these men
when Jesus called them to follow him.
There was no hesitation. We read
that they immediately left their nets and followed him. They left their nets and everything to
follow the teacher from Galilee. As I
was thinking about this, one thought jumped out at me. Jesus said, “I will make you Fishers of
men.” It like he was saying to these
burly fishermen, “look, I know that you are fishermen, and I’m not interested
in changing that. I know your passion is
fishing. I just want to broaden your
horizon. Right now you are catching fish
in the Jordan River, but I want you to think bigger. I want you to fish for men instead of carp,
trout or whatever fish they were in the habit of catching.” When we come to Jesus, He wants to broaden
our horizon. He wants to take our
passions whether it is writing, cooking, photography or farming and give us a
greater vision of how we can serve him using those passions that he put within
us. What are you passionate about? How can you put it to work for God?
As I was driving home today, I passed a person walking on the side of the road. Since it was cold, and snowy, I thought I should stop and offer the person a ride. As I drove on by, I was irritated with myself for not stopping. I could have and should have but I didn't. Why? I was scared! Maybe that wouldn't bother you, but I'm willing to bet there are things that make you afraid. It may be snakes or spiders that send the ticker into overdrive. Or maybe it's your job and finances that keep you up at night when you should be resting. Then again perhaps it's relationships that consume your thoughts and energy. As followers of God, we know that we are told not to be afraid. Yet we often are afraid despite everything we know. As I was driving away from a misse...
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