knowing Jesus

The First Disciples

18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.19 Jesus called out to them, "Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!"20 And they left their nets at once and followed him. 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, repairing their nets. And he called them to come, too.22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.

matthew 4

the first disciples didn't just follow Jesus without knowing who He was. i found out in john that peter and andrew actually met Jesus prior to Jesus' calling of them. they had been walking with Him and spending time with Him for about a year. i think the same went for james and john. then Jesus comes along one day and tells them to leave everything. at this point, they have a pretty good relationship with Jesus. they trust Him. they left their careers and their families behind and followed Jesus. they must have really had some serious trust in Jesus to do these things. if you didn't have your career or your family, you were nothing. and here they were, four men called by Jesus to come and follow. and they did it. that amazes me.

now the question comes to us. do we have that type of relationship with Jesus? do we trust Him enough to leave everything? Or is He just a stranger that we sing a bunch of songs and say a lot of prayers to? do we trust Him to leave our careers and families? tough questions. wrestle with it. pray on it.