"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."
As I'm reading through Matthew, my purpose is to learn more about WHO Jesus was as a human being (while still being God...I know, it's crazy). What I see here is that Jesus, walking along the shore of the sea when He sees these two brothers, "Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew." And they were in the middle of doing their job. "They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen." Jesus approaches them and begins to have a conversation with them, and He says, “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Or as the NLT puts it, "Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!"
What stuck out to me is that, as I know to be true with Jesus, His greatest concern is ALWAYS people. Here I see Him calling these two people to come follow Him, and this is the Peter that would deny Christ three times and then later be willing to die by crucifixion upside down for the name of Christ! Jesus knows that in calling these people to follow Him, He is going to change their lives forever for the good. He also has a concern for other people -- the people for whom he's asking Peter and Andrew to help him fish. People are a big deal -- the biggest deal -- the God. They matter most!
What I really love, is that Jesus is the ultimate story-teller and parallel-maker. He's not asking Peter and Andrew to give up their hands-on trade of fishing to become mathematicians or artists. He's telling them, I can use your gifts and talents as they are to bring people to Me! No matter what you do, Jesus is saying, I gave you those talents and gifts so you could develop them and then use them for my Kingdom. Jesus said " Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!" If you are a teacher, He would say to you, I will show you how to teach my people. If you are a musician, He would say to you, I will show you how to lead my people in worship to Me. If you use your hands in construction, He would say to you, I will show you how to build relationships as you serve the people around you (maybe even through what you physically build).
Jesus is not asking us to follow Him and leave all the things we can do well behind, but instead, He has developed those gifts and talents in us so that He could be seen in us as we do them. So I ask you, how can you use the talents you have to serve the people around you? Jesus is calling you to do what you do -- for Him.
No matter what you do, or where you work, He's calling us to do what we do for His glory. I love the new song by Steven Curtis Chapman called "Do Everything." I hope you can take the time to listen to it today if you haven't heard it, or even if you have. Just click the link below, and it's the first song that comes up (at least on the day that I posted this).
No matter what we are doing today, let's do it for Him. Be encouraged my friend, no matter what you do, "let me remind you it all matters...just as long as you do everything you do to the glory of the One who made you."
http://stevencurtischapman.com/
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