Leave Your Nets

“And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:18

Standing in the Yigal Allon Museum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, I remember thinking, “I think I might have stayed in the boat.” We were looking at the “Jesus Boat,” a first-century fishing boat discovered in 1986 by two brothers, Moshe and Yuval Lufan. Two brothers who were fishermen, not unlike those two sets of brothers called away from their nets and boats by Jesus 2,000 years earlier.

A twenty-seven-foot boat on the sea isn’t my idea of safety and security, but at least the unknowns were known, the dangers predictable in their suddenness. But who was this Jesus, and what was this life to which he was calling them?

And yet they went. They left everything to follow Jesus.

The life of discipleship is not a life of comfort. Following Jesus doesn’t make life easy. We sail on choppy seas, in uncertain waters. But to be a disciple of Christ is to never be alone. We are called to sail together and, even when otherwise alone, Christ is with us.

We’ll hear Jesus call these first disciples in our gospel reading this Sunday. Today, let us think of the journey of faith to which Jesus invites us. It’s a new day, and anything is possible. Hear his voice: Follow me!

Be well, friends. You are loved.

Lord, you call us to leave everything and follow you. Following you, we receive everything back from your gracious hand. Help us let go of all which would hinder us. 

Image: The Ancient Galilee Boat in Yigal Allon Museum Kibbutz Ginosar, August 16, 2017 (photo by me).