Follow Me

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Luke 5:1-11

TO CHEW ON: “And Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.’ So when they had brought their boats to land, they forsook all and followed Him.” Luke 5:10b-11

If Peter wasn’t looking for a career change before Jesus came on the scene, the way this rabbi from Galilee messed with his life probably soon had him open to just that. First Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law. Then He commandeered Peter’s boat as a pulpit (Peter probably listened to His talk – even while he cleaned his nets). After Jesus dismissed the crowd, He suggested Peter and the boys go fishing – something that Peter assured Him they had already done, but without success.

However Peter, smart man, listened to Jesus’ suggestion that they try again – even though it was broad daylight and any Lake of Gennesaret fisherman worth his salt knew that real fishing only happened at night. The result was beyond shocking. They caught so many fish, the boat began to sink.

Peter knew immediately he was in the presence of no ordinary man. He was overcome with a sense of his own sinfulness (what other reaction is there in the presence of God Himself?). Then came this amazing response from Jesus: “Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men.”

Peter, softened by all that had happened to this point, responded immediately. Goodbye fish-boat.

God’s dealings with us aren’t so different.
1. First He gets our attention. Often it's through sickness or calamity.
2. We observe God at work. We read about what He’s done, or hear about it through missionaries, or see His touch on the lives of people we know. We become filled with awe. This is real!  We want to be a part of it.
3. We hear God’s call us personally. It may be a dramatic encounter. Or it may be a quiet dissatisfaction with our lives and their worldly preoccupations, combined with a desire to refocus on things that have eternal value.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to hear Your call and to follow You. Amen.

MORE: Here am I; send me.
“Get out of your mind the idea of expecting God to come with compulsions and pleadings. When our Lord called His disciples there was no irresistible compulsion from outside. The quiet passionate insistence of His ‘Follow Me’ was spoken to men with every power wide awake. If we let the Spirit of God bring us face to face with God, we too shall hear something akin to what Isaiah heard, the still small voice of God; and in perfect freedom will say, ‘Here am I; send me.’”
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest