| Matthew 4:12 Now when Jesus
had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim: 14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. 17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 21 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. 22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him. |
Mark 1:14 Now after that John
was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God, 15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. 16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him. 19 And when he had gone a little further thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him. |
Luke 5:1 And it came to pass,
that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by
the lake of Gennesaret, 2 And saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. 3 And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon's, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. 4 Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. 5 And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. 6 And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake. 7 And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord. 9 For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken: 10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men. 11 And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him. |
We know from John's account (John 1:37-42) that Peter and Andrew, possibly John himself, had previously met Jesus, with the encouragement of John the Baptist. Each of them, along with John's brother, James, was about the work of their daily lives when the call came. They left their chosen profession and the relative security it represented to follow a man they barely knew because they believed what he claimed. Only Luke recounts the miracle that helped convince them.
From the beginning of his ministry, Jesus illustrated the primary truth of the work of the Gospel: God chose to use human instruments to carry out his work. As God, he was and is fully capable of doing the task himself, but that was not God's plan. He takes everyday people from their ordinary lives and transforms them into something extraordinary -- his witnesses. Not everyone who serves God leaves their normal occupation; in fact, only a relative few do that. What his call on our lives should cause us to do, though, is change our priorities. Instead of making our jobs and families first in our lives, we should make our relationship with Christ our first priority. Sometimes, as with the Galilee fishermen, God's call may require a spectacular intervention to get our attention; sometimes, as with Matthew or Phillip, the call itself may be enough. Even then, the choice is ours; Peter and the others could still have rejected the call of Christ to follow, but they didn't. Sadly, most Christians ignore God's call to service to begin with, rejecting it without ever knowing what it involves.
Such a call may be to full-time ministry, but it may simply be to witness to others faithfully where we are, or to serve in local body to fill a role that may be entirely without glory or public recognition. God looks for our willingness, not our training or expertise. If he asks to do something beyond our natural talents or abilities, he will provide what we lack. He doesn't want us to excuse ourselves with a complaint of a stammering tongue, as Moses did (Exodus 4:10); but to believe his promise that his grace is sufficient in the face of any thorns in the flesh that hinder us (2 Corinthians 12:7-10). With Paul, we should affirm that we can do all things through the strength that comes from Christ (Philippians 4:13).
Too often, the complaint that Christians offer when refusing to accept a particular call to service is "I don't have time". That's just another way of saying, "Other things are more important to me than God is". When our business is "busy-ness", we're cultivating the thorns of worldly concerns and pleasures, not the seeds of the Gospel. Rejecting the call of God on our lives is not just rejecting the call to salvation, which comes to us all, or the call for full-time service, which comes only to a few. It involves a decision to put other concerns ahead of God, whether these demand time, money, or talent.
The call of the disciples was not the end of the story; one of them later betrayed him, and the rest deserted him in his hour of greatest need. Being called, and accepting that call, does not mean we will never fail or fall. It does mean, though, that God has a claim on our lives, and that when we do fail, he will tenderly and persistently call us back to him, as Christ did with Peter. Even if we reject his invitation to serve him, he doesn't give up on us. There may come a point as with Paul when the call is so powerful and insistent that refusal is very difficult, but more often we just have repeated opportunities to share his love and message with others. With each refusal, though, just as with each refusal to come to a saving knowledge of Christ, we become a little more hardened. After a lifetime of closing our ears, we eventually reach the point where we can no longer hear. We build the house of our lives with wood, hay, and stubble, and in the end we're left with nothing but our salvation (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).