Mark 1:14-20

Andrew and Simon are out on the Sea of Galilee as they are every morning. This morning is like any other and the two brothers are cleaning their fishing net.  Are they celebrating a successful catch or has it been a disappointing day, we are never told but, as they clean their nets, they are approached by Jesus.

Jesus invites them to follow him, to be fisher of men. There’s a couple of different theories about why the disciples went, about what they thought Jesus was alluding to when he said ‘fisher of men’, but in the end they went.  They went because they were invited.  They dropped everything they had, literally turned their backs on their old lives and began to follow Jesus.

A couple of years ago I was at a music festival in Fortitude Valley in Brisbane.  It’s a pretty cool free festival where they set up a bunch of stages within walking distance of each other.  As I was walking between stages with a group of friends a man ran up to us and said, “you have to follow me, there is going to be an explosion, trust me” and he ran off down the street.   My mates and I looked at each other shook our heads and ignored him.  We did not follow him.  In case you were wondering there was no explosion that night.  We didn’t follow because we had no reason to, his words sounded crazy and we were too busy having fun.  Even the threat of an explosion did not deter us.

So why then did Andrew and Simon decide to turn their backs on their old lives and begin to follow Jesus?  Honestly I don’t really know but I do know that when Jesus asks us to do something it may not always make sense at the time.  To Andrew and Simon the invitation may not have initially made sense, but later I believe they were able to fully understand how Jesus had rescued them from their ordinary existence and invited them to be part of his incredible plan to save the world.

Jesus has asked me to do many things that did not seem to make sense at the time and yet, each time as I have prayed over it I have been invited to simply trust.  Proverbs 3:5 tells us not to rely on our own logic and reasoning but instead to place our full trust in God.

Are you willing to do something crazy like give up everything you have to become a fisher of men, because I believe that invitation is just as real for you as it was for the brothers two thousand years ago.

Now: Read Mark 1:14-20

Then: Go Swedish (what’s this?).