Mark 1:16-20

Mark 1:16-20  As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.  “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.  When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.  Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him. 

When Jesus called his first disciples on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, He had scripted a life for them that was beyond their wildest imagination.  He made a life for them that left this earthly domain and all its attractions, a life in the kingdom of God that could only be entered by faith in Jesus' works.  They worked their entire lives for a kingdom unseen, a home unavailable to the flesh.  When Jesus walked by and called them, they were men of this earth.  After his call, they became members of a heavenly body, bound for a heavenly city, neither made by human hands.  When Jesus called, they were merely the sons of their biological fathers, but after his call they became sons of God, joint-heirs with the begotten Son.  How could they have ever imagined something so great?  The best plans and the highest goals they could have set down for their lives as young men would never have surpassed what Jesus had planned for them, what the Holy Spirit had in store.  While they would not reap riches or live as kings, they would learn to be disciples from the Son of God, and be known throughout the ages as those who left their nets and followed him, as those who gave up everything to become fishers of men with the Master Fisherman.  They did not ask for time to settle their affairs; they did not ask to go out for another good catch to fund the journey: they simply followed Jesus.  They heard the voice of God in Christ's simple call: Come, follow me.  The Spirit penetrated their hearts and minds, and they began the journey of a lifetime. 

So it is with us, no matter the dreams of our youth, no matter the pinnacles of success we thought we would climb, God always has a better plan for our lives: more meaningful, more successful, more enduring.  He planned our lives to be eternally profitable, for his spirit to guide, comfort us and lead us to our heavenly home.  A Christian's life is never unsuccessful in the hands of God.  When we take control, we are in dangerous territory.  Many scriptures tell us the foolishness of going our own way.  We do not have the mind of God.  As He spoke through the prophet Isaiah: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  (Isaiah 55:8-9)  The devil is the great deceiver, and he tries to tell us we can manage our lives better on our own, that we are free to pick and choose what part of the gospel we accept and the parts we reject.  We read in Proverbs 16:25: There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.  We think of this as speaking of eternal death, but we also reap havoc, darkness, and death to our spiritual walk in this life when we reject God's leading and refuse his perfect will.  So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.’  So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”  (Hebrews 3:7-11)  Just as the children of Israel failed to enter into God's rest in the Promised Land because of unbelief, we can fail to enter into his rest each day because we do not trust him.  We do not believe He is a perfect Father who loves his children with a perfect never-ending love.  We are not willing to put Jesus in charge as Lord of our lives. 

When Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee calling first Simon and Andrew and then James and John, He was looking for disciples who would answer his call.  They did answer and we know them as part of the twelve apostles who helped spread the "Good News" to the known world.  We also know them as men who gave everything for the cross of Christ, not merely their livelihood, their families, and their reputations, but eventually their lives.  They faced sorrow, doubt, and confusion at the cross because they did not understand why their Lord had left them and was now buried in a grave.  But when Christ arose from the dead and when they were filled with the Holy Spirit, these men and the early church became a mighty force for God, spreading the gospel message that Christ had won the victory over sin and death.  They did not turn back to their former lives; they did not renounce their calling; they continued to follow Jesus.  They knew who they were in Christ and who Christ was in them.  They had surrendered their plans long ago on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and they were now love servants of the Most High, joint-heirs with Christ their Lord and Savior.  They did not go forth in their own strength but in the authority of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit.  They had also entered into the rest of God--Jesus Christ!  After describing the failure of the Israelites to enter into God's provision, the writer of Hebrews goes on to say: There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.  Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.  (Hebrews 4:9-11)  Today, the Lord Jesus calls his children to follow him.  He asks us to cease from our own labors and to do the work of the Father.  He says, "Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."  Yet, He also says, we need not worry, strive, and carry these heavy burdens.  He wants us to enter into his rest, to enter into the rest prepared for the sons and daughters of the Lord.  Listen, little children, and you will hear his voice.  He calls you by your name.