Who Has You?
One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water,
for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them,
“Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”
And they left their nets at once and followed him.
A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons,
James and John, in a boat repairing their nets.
He called them at once, and they also followed him,
leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.
(Mark 1:16-20)
Jesus is in a bit of a bind. He has only three years to spread the news as far as He can, that God is willing to forgive sins and offer new life to anyone who will receive it. He knows what lies ahead for Him and is no doubt feeling the pressure of getting started. So, He’s on the look-out for someone to share the burden. But fishermen? Smelly, salt of the earth, lower class fishermen?
“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men!” He says. And lo and behold, they walk away from their boats and nets and follow Him. Wow, this Jesus must make quite an impression on people! Of course, they didn’t know the future: where they would go, what they would do, how their future would end. But the thing they did know was they would have Jesus—and He would have them. And that that was enough to get started.
I think it is amazing that on that one day, on the beach, Jesus chose His most important disciples in one fell swoop—and they were all fishermen!
One day in seminary, right before exams, a good friend and I were exhausted. “Too much studying,” we said. “Let’s do something to clear our minds.” Walking out of the university library, we ran into one of our professors. “What are you boys doing?” he said. “Going fishing,” we responded. Our professor was stunned, until he smiled and said: “O, I get it; fishing for men!” We looked at each other and realized our professor didn’t live in the real world.
But Peter, Andrew, James, and John did. And still they gave it all up to follow Jesus, even they didn’t know what the future held. But they knew that they had Jesus, and that He had them.
You and I don’t know what tomorrow holds, much less 2022 and beyond. But does it matter, really? We have Jesus. And Jesus has us. Really, that is all the security we need.
During this sacred season, and every season, our presents and futures are in the hands of the One who died and rose again for our sakes.
I pray that somehow, we might be able to view the uncertain days ahead with the assurance that the fishermen had when they dropped their nets and followed Him…because He truly is enough.
May your Lenten and Easter experience be powerful and comforting as you realize we have someone holding us who will never, ever leave us—Jesus Christ our LORD!
God bless you!
Pastor Dave