Episode 429 - Show Notes
- In John chapter one we find the story of Jesus walking on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He finds four young men, four fishermen. They are two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew and James and John. As the story unfolds we learn that Peter and Andrew are casting their nets into the sea from the shore. James and John were sitting in their boat mending and repairing their fishing nets. All four men were busy at work with their nets. It was an ordinary day at work.
- But something happens here that changes the lives of these four men forever. Jesus simply calls for them to follow him. He would be their rabbi. They would be his students. There was something so compelling about Jesus that these four young men make a life-changing decision.
- We see here that the act of leaving their nets behind was no small decision. They consciously left their old life behind and embraced a new one as a Christ-follower. They left behind their identity, their security, their comfort zone, and the expectations of their family and friends. They fully embraced their future with Jesus. That’s what disciples do.
- Today as you and I hear and embrace the call of Jesus to become his followers, we too are compelled to leave some old things behind. God will call you to leave behind old values, old patterns of behavior, and old ways of living that conflict with the values of a Christ-follower.
- One last thing…In John chapter one, when Jesus calls these four men to follow him. The Bible says they left their nets immediately. They didn’t need a few weeks to think about it. They didn’t make a pros and cons list. They recognized that Jesus was worth following, so they immediately left their nets behind to become his disciples.
John 1:18 - “They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”
In Matthew 16:24-25 - “Then Jesus told his disciples, “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.”
Hebrews 12:1 says, “let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”
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