Jesus Begins to Preach

12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he withdrew to Galilee. 13 Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali— 14 to fulfill what was said through the prophet Isaiah:

15 “Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali,

the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles—

16 the people living in darkness

have seen a great light;

on those living in the land of the shadow of death

a light has dawned.”

17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Jesus Calls His First Disciples

18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James, son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

 

Every day we are busy working and walking around trying to juggle so many things in our lives – just like the fishermen that Jesus recruited. Our hearts and arms are full of “things we have to get done!” Just like the fishermen, sometimes we have to “put something down” to do what Jesus is asking us to do.

 

Simon and Andrew “20 At once they left their nets and followed him.” James and John “22 immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.” They realized that Jesus had a better way. They trusted Him. They followed and learned from Jesus, but it wasn’t easy.

 

Jesus calls us too, even though we are busy. He calls us to let go of things that fill our lives and follow Him. That’s not always easy and we often have to make sacrifices. He asks us to set aside what fills our arms and time.

 

The life that God offers is amazing. After all, Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for us. He laid down everything. He came down from Heaven and laid down His life to save us. He taught us how to live and to be children of God.

 

In light of what he has done for us. It should be easy to say that we want to follow Jesus.

We will mess up, but he always forgives us. His arms are never full. They are open and ready for us.

How do we follow Him? We read the Word, we go to church, and we tell others about Him. And, very importantly, we pray. We talk to God. We must remember that He is present and that He loves us. We ask him to give us help to follow Him.

 

Thank you, Dear Lord, for sending Jesus to us. Help me today to follow Him, to love Him and to serve Him. Thank you for loving us!

 

Go make some disciples!

 

Donna DeMauro

donna@demaurostl.com

 

Prayer Concern: Those that think they have better things to do than to follow Jesus.