Tuesday, February 19, 2013

Mark 1:16-20


Passage

As Jesus was walking beside the sea, Jesus finds Andrew and Peter.  They were fishing – after all, they were fishermen.  Jesus calls to them and says, “Follow me, I will make you fishers of men.”  Immediately they left their nets and followed Jesus.  Going a little further, Jesus sees James and John, the sons of Zebedee.  They were fixing their nets.  Jesus calls to them and they immediately start to follow Jesus.  They left their father with his hired servants.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Simon (Peter) and Andrew were fishing.  Jesus calls them to be fishers of men.  I love the way that Jesus ties the call to their vocation and their gifts.  Jesus didn’t call them to be “evangelists.”  No, that would have probably scared them away.  Rather, Jesus called them to do what they already knew how to do.  Jesus calls them to fish.  But rather than casting their physical nets into the sea for fish, Jesus would teach them how to cast their verbal nets into the crowd in hopes of catching a disciple or two.

I think this is really a new way of thinking about ministry for me today.  Rather than calling people to be “evangelists,” we should call people to do what they already know how to do.  Jesus called me to teach – but to teach Him among people rather than mathematics.  Jesus can call a mother to become a mother over many disciples, thus increasing her spiritual children. Jesus can call a wood-worker to shape a people (raw material) into a useful part of God’s house.  The call to discipleship is not a call to something foreign.  It is a call to take your expertise and apply it in a new direction.

What is your expertise?  How can you use it in a new way?

Second Thought:

Immediately.  This is a word that we will hear often in Mark.  Andrew and Simon (Peter) immediately leave their nets and follow Jesus.  James and John immediately leave their work and follow Jesus.  The response to the Lord’s call is immediate.  Either we hear His call and listen, or we choose to ignore.  Now, this doesn’t mean that Andrew, Simon (Peter), James, and John were perfect.  No, they learned along the way and their skill as a disciple improved in time under Jesus.  But their response – their willingness to take their trade in a new direction – that was immediate.

Are you willing to immediately follow God where He leads?  Are you willing to listen when He bids you to come and follow Him?  Are you willing to do it right now?

Third Thought:

James and John leave their father – and his hired hands.  Don’t lose that small detail in the midst of this.  Zebedee was wealthy enough to have hired hands.  In today’s terminology, that made him a business owner.  James and John weren’t some poor fishermen who left Jesus because they had no better alternative.  No, James and John were probably sitting fairly well off compared to the rest of the people in Galilee.  Their family had enough resources to own their own business.  James and John walked away from the family business completely.  That takes guts.  They walked away from a sure thing the rest of their life to follow this Jesus.

What does this passage have to say about choosing between the physical and the worldly?  What does this passage teach us about the cost of discipleship?

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