New Beginnings

In Matthew 4, Jesus calls his first disciples: Simon, Andrew, James, and John. Jesus says, "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men."

Last Sunday in worship, our High School youth shared that Jesus was not a Christian, he never called anyone to be a Christian, he never instructed is disciples to make Christians - he simply said, "come follow me." Understand me here - maybe sometimes we spend too much time being Christians and not enough time being followers of Jesus. Maybe sometimes we spend to much time maintaining the church that we fail to do the work of Jesus. My prayer is that we would not be recognized as a church goer, but as followers of Jesus.

For the disciples to leave their boats it took courage and commitment. It took trust in this man Jesus and what he was doing. It meant leaving the comfortable for the unknown.

They had spent a lifetime learning how to fish fish. But now they would be doing something they had never done before - fishing men. I am sure they had doubts about their ability to do what Jesus was calling them to do. I am sure it was a bit overwhelming - men are a lot bigger and more difficult then fish.

They would make mistakes along the way. But through it all Jesus would lead and provide. In this story I am reminded that God does not call the qualified, but qualifies the called. In that vein, I love this prayer by Dr. Martin Luther:

Lord God, You have appointed me
as a Bishop and Pastor in Your Church,
but you see how unsuited I am
to meet so great and difficult a task.
If I had lacked Your help,
I would have ruined everything long ago.
Therefore, I call upon You:
I wish to devote my mouth
and my heart to you;
I shall teach the people.
I myself will learn and
ponder diligently upon You Word.
Use me as Your instrument --
but do not forsake me,
for if ever I should be on my own,
I would easily wreck it all.

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