DROP YOUR NETS AND FOLLOW ME

I know how hard life can be. How stressful it may seem. How preoccupied you may feel with all of your goals. I understand. I too have been preoccupied. I too have spent so long trying to push forward, trying to reach that destination where I can look around and say, “Ahhh finally, I am happy. This is what I have been working for all this time. My efforts have paid off.”

I also know that while most of you wake up everyday trying to figure out what step to take next to reach that goal, that piece of the American Dream, some of you have another feeling pestering you. Some of you while chasing your dreams can’t help but feel empty. With each new accomplishment, each new degree, each new position and each new acquired luxury, you still feel an emptiness inside of you.

Some of you know that having a relationship with The Lord is the answer, but some of you don’t really understand what that means. For those of you who are saved and have excepted Jesus into your lives as your Lord and Savior like myself, think about what that really means. Lord and Savior….

Most of us understand what Savior means. We know that Jesus has paid the price for our sins. He has saved our souls from eternity in Hell, but what about Lord?

Main Entry: 1lord
Pronunciation: \ˈlȯrd\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English loverd, lord, from Old English hlāford, from hlāf loaf + weard keeper — more at loaf, ward
Date: before 12th century
1 : one having power and authority over others: a : a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and obedience are due b : one of whom a fee or estate is held in feudal tenure c : an owner of land or other real property d obsolete : the male head of a household e : husband f : one that has achieved mastery or that exercises leadership or great power in some area

1. When we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord we are giving him power and authority over our lives.

2. We acknowledge he is our ruler by hereditary right and service and obedience are due to him.

3. We acknowledge he owns us. He created us for his purpose

4. We acknowledge he is the head of our households and our lives

5. He is the “husband” and us “the church” are the bride

6. We lastly acknowledge that he exercises leadership and great power.

I realized today while reading Mathew in an attempt to recommit myself to learning God’s word and what it is he wishes for my life, that the Lord wants us to acknowledge him as Lord. He doesn’t want to just save your soul from damnation but he wants to be the head of your life. In Mathew 4:1-4

¹ Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. ² And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. ³ Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
⁴ But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

The lord realizes that the very life force that keeps us alive, that nourishes our bodies and that is pleasing to the tongue…. food, is not enough to live on alone. Then in verse 18-22….

¹⁸ 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 fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

He calls on Peter and his brother who are fishing. they are gathering food, the nourishment they need to continue to live. They have a huge net to catch the fish. More than likely they catch more than enough fish than are need for themselves and possibly sell the fish or provide fish for others. When Jesus sees them he calls on them to follow him, RIGHT THEN AND THERE. He doesn’t say “Go  and prepare.” He doesn’t say “Get your affairs in order. I shall come back for you soon.”, he doesnt say “Fold your nets up neatly and dock your boat someplace safe.” He tells them to drop their nets and follow him, he will make them fishermen of men. The passage goes on to say, they immediately left their nets and followed him. IMMEDIATELY. No questions asked. No hesitation. No, “One second Jesus, just let me catch this last fish.” They just left with the lord. They were obedient.

Jesus also called on James and John who were also fishing with their father. Like Peter and his brother Andrew they left their nets and IMMEDIATELY followed Jesus, but they also Left their father. This passage illustrates how even though your birth farther raised you, God our father is the father of all things and is an even greater authroity that your own parents.

Before I read these passages, I prayed to God to speak to my spirit, to make his words jump off the page and into my heart. The spirit lead me to see that this is not just a story. Some account of what happened over 2000 years ago to this one man, but its instruction. It’s a guide to live our lives. It’s not just a list of rules of what and what not to do. Its God’s word in the flesh speaking to us all if we stop and listen and give it a chance to speak to us.

God wants us all to be happy and fulfilled and he wants to use us for his purpose, but we need to be obedient and most of all allow jesus to be the Lord of our lives. When he says come with me, we need to go IMMEDIATELY! Not on our own time. It takes faith and trust to follow the Lord even though we have no idea where it is he is leading us. Sometimes we are afraid that he doesnt have our goals as a priority. That career or degree, or city we want to live in or person we want to be with, might not be what he wants for us, and so we will choose not to follow him because we want to do it our way first, but at the end of the day, who knows better than the Lord our God?