Dear Disciple,
When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. Luke 5:4-7
Our Master came to professional fishermen and demonstrated beyond a doubt that He had power and authority over what they might have considered their domain: the fish of the Sea of Galilee. With a simple command, He was somehow able to do immeasurably more than they could do with all their efforts and expertise. It was so remarkable and unexpected that the rugged men in the boats were astonished. Simon, in response to all this, fell down before Jesus and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man.” Who was this man they were dealing with?
Notice that after Jesus promised to make Simon a fisher of men, the fishermen “pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him”. They had hit the jackpot that day! They had certainly never seen a draw of fish like the one the Rabbi from Nazareth led them to have. And then He asked them to leave it? With His continued help, they could have been the most successful fishermen the Sea of Galilee had ever seen. This was their career peak, and they left it all. Why? He hadn’t come to the lakeside to improve their fishing business. He came to invite them into an eternal business – the Father’s kingdom business.
This is an absolutely crucial truth about our own lives with Jesus, Disciple: He didn’t come to improve our lives as we live them. No, He came to invite us into a new life that wasn’t possible for us before. Some of us might be perfectly happy to have a Jesus who comes along and uses His power to charm our lives and help us reach our personal goals. This Jesus isn’t real. The real Jesus comes to us, as He went to those fishermen so long ago, in order to bring an end to our lesser lives and give birth to our fullest lives.
The right response to the power and love of Jesus is to abandon life as we know it and become whomever He’ll make us. As disciples, we call on Him to make us whatever He has in mind; we don’t call on Him to make our lives whatever we have in mind. We are delighted to know Jesus as our friend, but we must never forget that He is first and foremost our Master. As He calls us today, let us trust His vision for our lives and be ready to see His kingdom power accomplish what we never could on our own.
Leaving the old vision for His vision with you,
Ryan
