Recently I re-read Matthew 4, where Jesus calls fishermen Peter, Andrew, James and John to follow him and become his disciples. “Come,” Jesus says, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.
Matthew tells us that all four men immediately dropped their nets, left their boats and followed Jesus, and in that moment, I wondered what Jesus might be asking me to leave behind in order to follow him.
When I heard Jesus tell me to drop my nets, I realized he was asking me to leave my desire for clarity and direction behind. I am called to walk alongside him in trust, even if I don’t know where we are going. After all, Jesus didn’t give the disciples any direction when he called them. He didn’t point out which way they were headed.
It is good and right to be attentive to God’s movement in my life, but it is also good and right to trust that God will make the way known without my grasping or pushing, without my seeking or striving.
This message is excerpted from “Drop your nets” by Michelle Derusha in the June 2020 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate James, apostle.
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