Mark 1:16-20 (Amplified Bible)
And passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net [to and fro] in the sea, for they were fishermen.
And Jesus said to them, Come after Me and be My disciples, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
And at once they left their nets and [yielding up all claim to them] followed [with] Him [joining Him as disciples and siding with His party].
He went on a little farther and saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in [their] boat putting their nets in order.
And immediately He called out to them, and [abandoning all mutual claims] they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after Him [to be His disciples, side with His party, and follow Him].
Now from this passage we understand that the Jesus saw some fishermen by the Sea of Galilee working. He saw them doing their job and earning their livelihood. He then called out to them for them to join Him in His ministry. Immediately they left EVERYTHING behind and followed Him.
If we were to put this in today's context, this is would be a man you have never seen before, coming to your office, found someone working and he said to him: "follow me as my disciple!" and immediately he quits his job and runs after him. he walk around your office a little bit more and he said the same thing to another of your colleague and he quits immediately too! What will your reaction be? I don't know about you, but generally this is what most people will think: "HE MUST BE CRAZY!!!!" Can you imagine what happens when he goes back home and tell his dad that he quit his job to follow a man he has never seen before in his life? His dad is going to be so shocked and furious that he quit a good paying job for someone whom he has never seen before!
But friends, God will never shortchange us. These people that gave their all to follow Jesus were tremendously blessed.
1) They've experienced things first hand that money can never buy.
Matthew 8:23-27 (Amplified Bible)
And after He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
And suddenly, behold, there arose a violent storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered up by the waves; but He was sleeping.
And they went and awakened Him, saying, Lord, rescue and preserve us! We are perishing!
And He said to them, Why are you timid and afraid, O you of little faith? Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great and wonderful calm (a perfect peaceableness).
And the men were stunned with bewildered wonder and marveled, saying, What kind of Man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him!
When Jesus died on the cross, the fishermen went back to their usual life, that is to fish at the Sea of Galilee. When He rose from the dead, He went to look for them there
Matthew 28:7 (Amplified Bible)
Then go quickly and tell His disciples, He has risen from the dead, and behold, He is going before you to Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.
What great honor to have Jesus coming to look for you!
2) Their names are mentioned millions of times throughout history because it is written in the bible.
Even as I'm sharing this message, their names have been mentioned at least once each. If that person were you, congratulations! you're famous! Everyone knows your name and they share your life story to people when they preach the gospel to people who don't know about God!
3) They became very rich
In Matthew, Mark and Luke we can see how Jesus fed the crowd that is following Him into the desolated area.
Luke 9:13 (New King James Version)
But He said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
And they said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people.”
When Jesus told them to give them food to eat, the disciples asked if they should buy food for ALL of them! that is 5000 men's worth of food, not including women and children. if every men were to have a woman and a child, that is will about 15,000 mouth to feed! The disciples had not considered if they have enough money to do it but immediately ask Jesus if they should buy food with their money! This shows that the ministry of Jesus is very rich. God has blessed everyone in Jesus' ministry financial tremendously.
All these blessings came after the fishermen gave up their all to follow Jesus. I personally have heard of people who gave up hobbies, their job, their career, their business, to follow God and do His will. These people are, like the fishermen, tremendously blessed. Their ministries are flourishing, and thousands of people have turned to Christ because of what he/she gave up.
Some of us maybe can't find that much faith to throw everything aside to follow Jesus, but we can all give something to Him. Today, lets try to give a sacrificial amount to God. God will not shortchange your offering. He will definitely bless you back with something much more than the amount that you purposed in your heart, like what He has done to match the offering that the fishermen gave. Amen!
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