Follow?

It was just another ordinary day. I have them, you have them, and we all have them. But wait a minute. Isn’t there something significant in the ordinary day that has just gone by? Just something special, something of a miracle, in every day events of each and every day? It happened with the disciples you know.

I wonder what I would have done? Jesus was just walking by a group of fisherman. They were a normal bunch, engaged in the normal activities fishermen engage in. There was nothing out of the ordinary. It was probably early morning, just after dawn. Here they were, these gnarly men, working at all they had ever known; fishing, sorting fish and repairing nets.

Just ordinary men doing ordinary things on an ordinary day. They were minding their own business, not bothering anyone. Probably engaged in some sort of ordinary morning chit-chat consisting of just normal conversation at the end of a catch. Talked about size, amount and probably about the fish that got away by breaking through the net. The ordinary miracle of catching fish.

It was just a normal everyday day. Until. . . until Jesus walked by and said to them; “Come follow me”. “Come, follow me....”. I don’t know about you, but I would want to know what that means. Does it mean for the day? Does it mean going to a seminar on fishing that will make me a better fisherman? What’s it mean? What’s in it for me? And, who was asking? He had also said; “and I will make you fishers of men.” What’s that mean? Most of us would also want to know, is this a new job for me? What’s the pay? What are the hours and is there shift work? Can you give me a job description? How much training do I need to be able to do it on my own? Are there fringe benefits? What about a pension plan? Our list would go on and on.
I can only imagine there fishermen wanting a better job. But fishers of men?

We know the rest of the story. The disciples probably knew of Jesus and his preaching in the area. They might have even thought it was a call to listen further to another new sermon that captivated many lives there in Capernaum. Now, we know what the call entails. What it meant to them and what it will indeed mean to us. Two Thousand years after this itinerant preacher walked by a group of fishermen and asked them this simple question, we all know the answer. To them it was just an ordinary miracle that day.

He is still asking the same question today. Each and every day He calls someone on an ordinary day to follow Him. But He calls for more than that. He calls us out of life circumstance to look beyond ourselves and our ordinary lives to be engaged in helping others find in an ordinary day the exceptional ordinary miracle of hearing His voice call them. Do you hear His call on you to, to follow Him and become a fisher of men?

By the way, His pension plan is out of this world.

Something to think about.

Rob