LifeLink Devotional

Friday, May 8, 2020

Sunday is Mother’s Day, and Pastor Josh will be leading the service and preaching a Mother’s Day sermon at our drive-in church. We will continue our study of the remainder of the first chapter of John’s Gospel on May 17. We will also continue our daily deep dive into the weekly passages of John so we can find more pearls of wisdom from the Holy Spirit. I hope you are finding these daily treasure hunts profitable.

Jesus now has three men who have taken an interest in Him and His mission. John, a fisherman, who would become the intimate friend of Jesus and the author of this Gospel. Andrew, also a fisherman, and his brother and fishing partner Simon, now named Peter after meeting Jesus.

Andrew and Peter are identified in Matthew 4:18-19 as the first two disciples officially called by Jesus to leave everything and follow Jesus.

“While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

What would you do at this point? Jesus, who they have been told is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, has invited you to leave your family business, and all its assets and income, and follow Him who knows where. What would you do?

Well not only did Andrew and Simon choose to leave everything and follow Jesus, a little further down the beach brothers James and John do the same thing. What could have been so compelling about the life of Jesus that grown men would leave their careers and families to follow Him?

That last question is significant for every one of us, but it is not the most important question. Here’s the question that causes me to pause and reflect on my life. What is so uncompelling about the life of Jesus that I would choose to hang on to what I have rather than fully follow Him?

The reason the second question is more important than the first is because of our actual experience with Jesus. We have chosen to follow Him with conditions. Jesus plus a good job. Jesus plus financial security. Jesus plus family. Jesus plus recreation and fun. What is so trivial about the life of Jesus that we continue to choose the trivial over the eternal?

That’s worth pondering today.

Pastor John