"Follow Me..."

'While walking by the Sea of Galilee,

He [Jesus] saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter)

and Andrew his brother,

casting a net into the sea, 

for they were fishermen.

And He said to them,

"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

Immediately, they left their nets and followed Him.'

Matthew 4:18-20

Fishermen. Something that I must say I have never aspired to be. Granted, I enjoy fishing but I can't imagine doing it for a living. I certainly appreciate those that still do simply because I really enjoy a good meal of seafood or fish, especially when it is fresh. 

In that generation, a fishermen was a very blue collar kind of person. Nothing shameful in it, but certainly not the elite of society. I find it interesting that these are the first two men to whom Jesus calls. 

No status. No special education. No significant family lines. Just fishermen. Hard working fishermen. 

Jesus makes a simple invitation, "Follow Me..." 

He doesn't sit down and lay out the entire picture for them. He doesn't go into great detail about who He is, what His plan for the human race is or even what their part is going to be in all of it...He simply invites them to join Him knowing that as they follow, His plan will unfold before them.

"...and I will make you fishers of men."

These eight words say a lot about the person of Jesus Christ. 

He is promising something to them.

Imagine that--God incarnate making a personal promise. Wow. 

Second, He is meeting them where they are at.

He will take what they know and what they are gifted with

and use it for a greater purpose.  

Third, He is promising significance. 

This is not to say that their work is not important now. Catching food to feed a village was critical, and someone needed to do it, but God had something better for these two chosen men. 

Catching souls rather than fish. 

Did they understand what it meant? Most likely not. 

Did they hear significance in the calling? Apparently. 

"Immediately they left their nets..."

There was no delay. 

No recorded hesitation.

No expounded explanation or revelation.

Just an invitation and an immediate response. 

They left their nets...

Forget not that their nets were their livelihood. It was all they knew. It was their connection to society.

It was their security. 

Undoubtedly, their acceptance required faith...a tremendous amount of faith. 

They trusted that this invitation was a divine appointment.

A divine appointment with something...Someone, greater than they. 

They knew nothing more than this Someone was inviting them to something greater and accompanying it with a promise of something greater. 

The only acceptable response? To immediately leave their nets and follow. 

How different would the world be if we accepted the same invitation? 

What if we stopped hesitating, stopped demanding complete revelation of the plan, stopped doubting the One inviting us, and simply followed Him? 

How different would we be?

God is promising something greater than we could ever do for ourselves. 

But, His invitation requires a complete willingness to follow. 

But, just as He promised to make them 'fishers of men', He too will take our gifts and abilities and use them to draw others to Himself. 

"Follow Me..."

What will your response be this morning?

<><tce