So when they had brought their boats to land, they
forsook all and followed Him.
Jesus is in the
process of calling his disciples and training them to be fishers of men. Remember
that this is all happening on the north side of the Sea of Galilee in a little
place called Capernaum, where Jesus preached to the crowd. Then He asked Peter
to put his boat out a little from the shore. Then He told him to launch out
into the deep. Then He told him to put out his nets for a catch. And Peter
partially obeying, put out a net, began to catch so many fish he couldn't
handle them all, and calls his partners James and John in their boat to come
and help him. And they are all astonished at the great miraculous catch of fish,
that only Jesus could have performed for them.
Peter falls on
his face and says, “depart from me, I'm a sinful man, O Lord”. And Jesus
responds by saying, “do not be afraid Peter, for from now on you will catch
men”. At this point, the passage tells us that the disciples, “forsook
all and followed Him”. My question today is, “what does it mean to forsake
all”? And then my next question is, “what is your all”? Well, first I believe
to forsake all, to follow Jesus does not mean that you leave your wife or your
children.
The Bible
teaches us that in a man when a man and woman get married, they become one
flesh. In Genesis 2:24, when Adam received his wife Eve from Go, it says “that
man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and they
shall be one flesh. You can't leave yourself. You are a part of her and she is
a part of you. You don't leave your children. It doesn't mean that.
In the story of
Abraham in Genesis 12, we find a great illustration of what means to forsake
all. God called Abraham to go to a land that he would show him. Abraham got up
and started his journey, but initially he took his dad with him to a place
called Haran. When he left there to continue his journey, took his nephew Lot
with him all the way to the Promised Land that God showed him. But was this the
land that God was actually showing him?
I believe the
Promised Land was of course a literal piece of land that God promised Abraham.
But at the same time, it tells us in the book of Hebrews Chapter 11:8-10, that “by
faith, Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place that he would
receive for an inheritance. And he went out not knowing where he was going”. We
need to point out that whenever you are intending to forsake all, it is a
journey of faith. By faith Abraham went out not knowing even where He was
going. You don't know what the end is. You just trust the Lord Day by day. Hebrews
go on to say, “By faith he dwelt in the land of promise, as in a foreign
land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same
promise. For he waited for the city which has foundations whose builder and
maker is God.”
Now, you know
what Abraham was looking for. He had eternity in mind. He was looking for that
heavenly city. In verse 16, we read: But they desire a better, that is a
heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He
has prepared a city for them”.
When you
forsake all and follow Jesus, it means you enter into a relationship with Jesus
Christ that is personal, intimate and real. That you're looking for that
heavenly city called heaven. God promised Abraham, I will make you a blessing,
and you will be a blessing, and your family is going to be a blessing to the
whole earth.
My friend, when
you forsake all to follow Jesus and become a fisher of men, you indeed are
blessed like you have never been blessed before. The Lord will be with you. He
will be your guide. He'll be your shield. He'll be your protector. He'll be
your security. Everything you thought you left behind will be like nothing and you
will find that Jesus satisfies you more than anything else on earth.
God bless!
