Let
it go and Follow- in His Word
Simon
Peter was fishing when Jesus called him and his brother Andrew to follow Him. They
did just that.
Jesus
was walking by and called out to the sons of thunder- Follow me! And they did!
Just
like that; they began walking with Jesus. Was your salvation the same easy transition
as the Word of God makes it sound here? Or did you struggle with letting go
with the things of this world. Things that feed our fleshly desires such as fame,
fortune and fabulous times just because we want to have them are things of this
world. Its not only drugs and alcohol that ruin a person it’s the things we
talk about, the things we choose to do for our own pleasure because we think it
won’t hurt anyone.
Then general consensus is that if we are following Jesus then we will
not speak those words, we will not desire ungodly friendships and we will not hate
our brothers or sisters or speak unkindly to them. The fact of the matter is
James and John’s mother wanted them to be the greatest in God’s Kingdom next
to Jesus. They gave in to her desires for her sons to be in such positions and
even went with her and bowed down in respectful posture to Jesus when she asked
for this favor.
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. Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I
will show you how to fish for people!” And they left their nets at once and
followed him. 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. They immediately followed him, leaving the
boat and their father behind. Matthew 4:18-22
Peter who claimed to be so strong in his pride claimed never to deny
Christ and yet we all know he did three times in the very day he proclaimed it.
Now these three were indeed the inner circle of friends Jesus had in his twelve
and they were given that position for a purpose; if they were the ones who
needed proving how weak they really were who are we to think we are any
stronger?
James
and John continued to follow Jesus and walked the walk of a believer in the Son
of God as King of Kings, lived their lives for Him.
Peter
repented and did likewise; he devoted his life to teaching people how to follow
Jesus.
They
left it all behind. These guys and the rest of the 12 left their old self
behind and became true followers of Christ. Did you? I struggle with stinking
thinking now and then and old thoughts come up and pride grows in my heart and
I have found that like Paul I have to die daily to keep it away. I am who I am
only by the Grace of God in me, not of anything I have done, not because of any
books I have written or friends I have made aside from my best Friend; Jesus.
We
used to sing a song when I first got saved it went something like; “I am not my
own I was bought with a price I was purchased with the precious blood of Jesus
Christ. All my sins are gone He redeemed my life…” all of this because of the
blood of Jesus that was shed so that we too could be followers of Christ.
Where
were you when you first heard His voice—whether through another person
preaching or a song on the radio, or that still small voice that speaks to your
heart and mind; where were you when Jesus said to you, “Follow Me”?
What
have you stripped off and left behind? Are you dragging your nets behind you or
did you leave them behind?
Peter,
Andrew, James and John, all fishermen, all left their nets and followed Him.
Think
for a moment, nets were used for catching fish that was their livelihood before
Christ. It was how they made their living, catching fish. After Christ they caught people for Him. How
much of an influence could they have been if they were dragging their nets with
all their stuff on it behind them? They could not have done much feeding the
five thousands with a net full of old dirty fish. Fact is not so many people
would have come around if they were dragging dirty nets with them, it would
have slowed the whole group down.
When
we drag our old lives with us into our new Christ following lives we bring a
stench with us. Jesus’ blood washed our sins away lets not choose to wallow in
the stinky fish anymore. Let it go!
Therefore, since we
are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us
strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily
trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping
our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because
of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is
seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t
become weary and give up. Hebrews 12:1-3
When
we do the things we used to do before we started to follow Him we are not
letting go of the things that weight us down.
Jesus
wants us to follow Him today not to follow our own selfish desires but to do
what Jesus would do. To walk in His steps, read the Word, know the Word, walk
in the Word and share the Word. Sure, its not always easy but when we keep
following Him and let go of the past hurts, sickness, desires, and even some
things we used to do for ‘fun’ need to change; when we let it go, we can let
God move us on further towards the front of the line when we follow Him.
Dear
Heavenly Father, thank you for calling us to follow after You. Keep us and
guide us as we try to let go of the old man and step in your steps and walk in
your way, in Jesus name, amen.
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