Matthew 4: 18-22 & 9: 9 And Jesus walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother; casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father mending their nets, and he called them. And they immediately left the ship and their father and followed him. And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose and followed him.
What a unique way to recruit your top executives eh? Can you see any organization at all doing that today, no matter how big, small or enterprising they might be? Just going out on the street and saying, hey you, follow me…and you too, and those called just doing as told without asking any questions? Not on your life! And even if they did, I doubt they would get such excellent results. But that was a completely different time: fewer people in a smaller area, a little less cynical than us today, though just as gullible. However, you’ve got to also remember that J.C. was an entirely different cup of tea. They had never seen anything like Him before. Imagine Peter and Andrew, poor fishers of fish, just leaving the expensive tools of their trade, their nets in the water and immediately following J.C. to become fishers of men. I doubt they even knew what He was talking about. The same thing goes for James and John. They just upped and left their poor father Zebedee mending the nets and went off behind Jesus. Can you imagine Zebedee’s surprise and amazement, plus consternation and concern for his livelihood? Hn! His two young sons just buzzing off to follow some crazy, itinerant preacher. But J.C had perfected that recruiting skill. He did the same thing with Matthew, the tax collector and got the same response. It also worked with Phillip, as we recently saw. (John 1:43) Now why would all these men, from various walks of life, just quit their jobs and families to follow a man they might or might not have heard about, whose reputation was somewhat tarnished? Your guess is as good as mine. But I’m sure they must have all either seen, heard or felt something when J.C. called them to follow Him. Whatever it was, it had to be a fairly powerful motivating force, for all of them to just quit their normal way of life and begin cavorting behind J.C who did not seem to have a regular means of earning a living. I don’t think any of us today would just leave our families and go off with someone we knew nothing about.. But those men did it, without hesitation too. I like to think it was their faith that enabled them. They must have sensed something about J.C, whether it was His charisma, or just an aura of strength and power emanating from Him. Whatever it was Friends, I certainly wish we could get some of it today. Something that just makes us follow Him, without any doubts or uncertainties. Wish we could bottle or package it and spread it throughout the world, so people could see what a powerful, beautiful way of life they were missing out on. The only reasons I can find to describe the Disciples’ responsiveness, are words like Faith, Hope, Belief and Trust, things that have become the bulwark of Christianity. So Friends, let’s stand fast in all that we hold dear, believing and trusting in His words and promises. For if we faint not, eventually we’ll receive the victor’s crown! Much LOVE…stand tall…and fight the victor’s fight!
What a unique way to recruit your top executives eh? Can you see any organization at all doing that today, no matter how big, small or enterprising they might be? Just going out on the street and saying, hey you, follow me…and you too, and those called just doing as told without asking any questions? Not on your life! And even if they did, I doubt they would get such excellent results. But that was a completely different time: fewer people in a smaller area, a little less cynical than us today, though just as gullible. However, you’ve got to also remember that J.C. was an entirely different cup of tea. They had never seen anything like Him before. Imagine Peter and Andrew, poor fishers of fish, just leaving the expensive tools of their trade, their nets in the water and immediately following J.C. to become fishers of men. I doubt they even knew what He was talking about. The same thing goes for James and John. They just upped and left their poor father Zebedee mending the nets and went off behind Jesus. Can you imagine Zebedee’s surprise and amazement, plus consternation and concern for his livelihood? Hn! His two young sons just buzzing off to follow some crazy, itinerant preacher. But J.C had perfected that recruiting skill. He did the same thing with Matthew, the tax collector and got the same response. It also worked with Phillip, as we recently saw. (John 1:43) Now why would all these men, from various walks of life, just quit their jobs and families to follow a man they might or might not have heard about, whose reputation was somewhat tarnished? Your guess is as good as mine. But I’m sure they must have all either seen, heard or felt something when J.C. called them to follow Him. Whatever it was, it had to be a fairly powerful motivating force, for all of them to just quit their normal way of life and begin cavorting behind J.C who did not seem to have a regular means of earning a living. I don’t think any of us today would just leave our families and go off with someone we knew nothing about.. But those men did it, without hesitation too. I like to think it was their faith that enabled them. They must have sensed something about J.C, whether it was His charisma, or just an aura of strength and power emanating from Him. Whatever it was Friends, I certainly wish we could get some of it today. Something that just makes us follow Him, without any doubts or uncertainties. Wish we could bottle or package it and spread it throughout the world, so people could see what a powerful, beautiful way of life they were missing out on. The only reasons I can find to describe the Disciples’ responsiveness, are words like Faith, Hope, Belief and Trust, things that have become the bulwark of Christianity. So Friends, let’s stand fast in all that we hold dear, believing and trusting in His words and promises. For if we faint not, eventually we’ll receive the victor’s crown! Much LOVE…stand tall…and fight the victor’s fight!
SCRIP-BITS 