And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Then Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." They immediately left their nets and followed Him. When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him .Mark 1:16-20
Peter, Andrew, James and John were by vocation fishermen as this was their regular business. The day Jesus came calling they were busy with the ordinary things that kept them in business . . . casting or caring for their nets. It was what they were comfortable with. I doubt they ever dreamed of leaving the family business.
But when Jesus came calling to be the leader of their lives, all of a sudden, their business was not as important. They dropped and left their nets behind them to follow Jesus. Following Jesus became their avocation that led them out of their comfort zone.
Priorities
Peter and Andrew ceased to cast their nets and began following Jesus. James and John not only left their nets but also had to sever some family ties to follow Jesus. He called to them to "come after" and they "went after Him." They left their jobs, their friends, their homes, their comfort zones.
Comfort zones are those places we like to reside in because they offer us the ease of tradition and the easy ordinary means and methods of doing things. We become comfortable casting and caring for the nets of our everyday lives. But just like in the lives of Peter, James, John and Andrew, Jesus comes walking by and calls to us to follow Him to lead us out of the all too familiar comfort zones of our lives. He longs to lead us beyond our own lives. He longs for you and me to follow Him as our Leader. He knows that as long as we are “comfortable”, we are not growing.
Can you identify where Jesus has led you that is beyond your “comfort zone”? Maybe there are some places and people in your life in which He wishes to use you in a specific way to meet their needs. Possibly, you do not feel comfortabledoing that in your own power. You are not alone, neither were the disciples.
There is one common denominator in all of those who followed Jesus; they sacrificed something important in their lives. They altered their priorities. Each of them had to make the decision to leave something and come after Him. Why would it be any different for us?
Jesus is not asking all of us to leave everything, walk out on families and jobs, etc. But He is asking us to change our priorities to make Him the King of our hearts and the Lord of our lives. What comfort zone do you need to step out of this new year? What do you need to lay down at His feet? We cannot have our lives changed unless we are willing to make the changes. We cannot truly follow Him until He is the priority of our lives. Do you need to change your priorities for this new year? Maybe we need to make a list of priorities instead of a new year’s resolution. The only resolution you need is to make Jesus Christ number one in your life. Only then will we be willing to step out on faith, leave behind what needs to be, and follow Him.
Scripture to Claim:
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 1 Peter 2:21
