Simon, Andrew, James, and John all dropped what they were doing to follow Jesus. The Bible says that when he called them, they went to him at once. They left their nets, they left their father, their boats, everything to follow Jesus.
They followed Jesus with complete abandon, giving us a crucial example. God wants the WHOLE heart, not just part. We see later on, in Mark 10:17-22, when we look at the story of the rich young ruler, that God wants all or nothing. The rich young ruler is a stark contrast to Simon, Andrew, James, and John because when Jesus invited him to join the disciples, he although part of him wanted to, the other half was caught up in the cares of this world and he wasn’t willing to lay that down to follow Jesus.
Following Jesus does not mean we have to live a life of poverty and lack, but it does mean that we do not RELY on the resources we have. The disciples were not poor. They had successful fishing enterprises. But they recognized that Jesus had something to offer them that would be far more fulfilling than their current paths. They were willing to risk their livelihoods, lives, and futures to follow Jesus.
What about you? Are you willing to risk everything to obey Christ? There is no one size fits all definition of what that looks like externally, the key thing is that internally, you are 100% surrendered to the Lord. God would rather have nothing than halfhearted leftovers. (Malachi 1:10)
Application/Journaling questions: Have you fully surrendered your life to Christ, or are there still areas where you are holding back? Are you willing to drop everything to obey God? If not, why? What are you valuing more than obedience and your relationship with the Lord? Only when you are willing to give up EVERYTHING for the sake of Christ will your life be truly fulfilled, joyful, and peaceful. Are you ready to step into that?
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