Matthew 4:22 “and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him.”
Jesus has started choosing His team. As He walked along the Sea of Galilee, He called men to be His disciples. Starting at Matthew 4:18, we read “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.”
Our verse to DATE, Matthew 4:22, reveals there was a lot of LETTING GO that day. For James and John to be FOLLOWERS of Jesus meant they had to LEAVE, to LET GO of some things and someone. They had to LET GO of their own dreams and desires. For them to be a follower meant they would no longer be leading their own life and doing their own thing. They had to LET GO of their business. It says, they LEFT the boat where they had fished for fish to now fish for men. They left their business to go and do the Lord’s business! While they were doing something GOOD, they had to turn loose of the good to do what was BEST. They had to LET GO to GO!
They had to LET GO OF THE GOOD so they could GO and do the BEST.
When Jesus said, “LET’S GO,” they LET GO!!
They also LEFT (oh don’t miss this), they left their father. They LEFT their family to go and become and do what Jesus wanted.
And while we see these two LEAVING as “they LEFT their boat and their father,” we also need to know that many times, for a person to FOLLOW means someone else has to LET GO. The other person in this story is Zebedee. Zebedee has always been a hero to me because he did not believe his sons belonged to him. His testimony here is that he LET GO!
When Jesus said, “LET’S GO” Zebedee LET GO!!
Parents reading this: Are you preparing your child(ren) to be followers of Jesus – to go where He wants them to go – to be what He wants them to be – to do what He wants them to do? I surely hope so! When Jesus says to your child LET’S GO will you LET GO?
Friend, when Jesus calls for you to FOLLOW HIM, are you going or staying? I hope you have decided to follow Jesus – no turning back – no turning back!
To be a follower, you FOLLOW the leading of the one LEADING!
Continue Strong, letting go so you/they can GO
And remember to DATE The Word