Luke 5:11  “And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus.”

They left everything and followed Jesus.  That is a huge statement.  What does that look like in my world today?  What have I given up for the cause of Christ?  What have I released, let go of, and abandoned?  What am I still holding on to?

“Everything” is a pretty absolute word.  There isn’t a lot of wiggle room there.  The verse doesn’t say they left most things, or some things, it says they left everything and followed.  It is a picture of commitment, a display of faith, an example of deciding to follow and letting nothing hinder that decision.

I like the realness of this section of scripture.  Peter realizes what has happened and understands that Jesus is someone extremely special.  He addresses Jesus as Lord and acknowledges and admits that he himself is “too much of a sinner to be around you.”  But Jesus reassures and just simply states…  “don’t be afraid, from now on you’ll be fishing for people.”  Jesus calls them to follow, to join him in his ministry, and to leave all that they know (fishing) and venture out into the unknown.  And they respond.

I don’t know if this verse means that they left everything, related to fishing, in that moment of a miraculous catch.  (I mean, they probably had a lot of fish that they could have cleaned and sold for a significant sum of money.)  Or if it means they left everything related to their entire lives.  (I’m thinking it meant in the moment, their livelihood of fishing and the mega catch they had just experienced.)  But either way, they left, stepped out in faith, and followed.  It took an act of their will, a willingness to believe, a leap of faith, and a desire to experience life differently.  In making that decision to leave everthing and follow, in an instant, everything in their lives changed.

It is a challenging, refreshing, convicting reminder to me.  I need to evaluate what I have given up, released, let go of, turned from, and am still holding onto.  Everything is a lot, but I want to daily leave it all behind and follow my Lord.

Jesus help me today to follow.  To give up the things I’m holding onto and to follow you willingly, obediently, and faithfully.  Lord, may your Spirit work within me to guide, direct, and move me into deeper waters of commitment to you.

This entry was posted on Friday, April 21st, 2006 at 7:57 am and is filed under Daily Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.