What Will You Give Up?

By Machelle McDowell

Mark 1:16-20

Do you remember the game, Follow the Leader? Someone would be in the lead and everyone else would follow along behind them and do whatever the leader did. There was no looking back, you had to keep your eyes on the Leader to not miss out on the action. Sometimes, you had to leave a friend behind to keep up.

I was reminded of this game as I contemplated what it would have been like to have Jesus (physically) look you in the eye and say, “Come, follow me.” What would that look like? What would you have to leave behind or maybe who? This happened to the disciples when they were called to follow Jesus.

Jesus walked along the Sea of Galilee and saw (2) brothers who were fisherman, Simon & Andrew. Jesus said to them “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Get this! The Bible says, they (immediately) left their nets and followed them. No questions asked? They left their livelihood behind and followed the bread of life.

Shortly afterwards Jesus chose another set of brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. Jesus greets them with the same command, “Come, follow me, I will make you fishers of men.” I love this! It meant, the disciples were not called because of any credentials, but because God saw what He could do through them and it was going to be a learning process.

This is what being a Christian is truly about, following Jesus. These fisherman did not just leap out of boat and onto the mission field ready and equipped for what God had in store for them, but that He would equip them to be good followers!

And notice once again, the brothers immediately left their father sitting in the boat along with their servants and followed Jesus. (Mark1:19-20). You might be thinking, God wants us to leave our families behind?

I firmly believe that Mark depicts the heart of Jesus in that Jesus wants us to put him into the right perspective. That is, FIRST.

When the “Sons of Thunder,” AKA James and John, walked away from their father, it was not an act of abandonment, but a display of the right order….does that make sense?

These fishermen were obviously fairly well-off financially. They owned their own boat and had servants. So many times, we are consumed by making a living or building a status for ourselves in the world. And then, if you add family and loved ones to the equation leaving God the leftover slot, it results in the wrong order that God designed for us. God is not saying leave your family, he is saying, “Love me First.”

They were totally surrendering their life to love God and then others in that order.

What would you be willing to leave behind to truly surrender your life to follow Jesus?

Our walk with God is a lifelong journey. He prepares us as we follow Him on a daily basis. We too have been called to be fishers of men.

There is an old contemporary song titled, “Each One Reach One.” It has such a simple profound message behind its meaning. It is the same challenge the disciples had hundreds of years ago, share Jesus with a lost world.

Think about it, (exponentially), if each one reached one and that one reached another and that process continued………..see the big picture?! We would all be fishers of men!

Gone fishing lately?