“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
The hard part for us is often leaving our nets. Nets were vital for fishermen being able to provide for themselves, and they weren't cheap. If they were damaged they would be mended rather than replaced. Leaving them for a bad reason would be hugely imprudent. We too have things which we think are essential to life. We are so preoccupied with these things that we sometimes don't even notice Jesus passing by. Or if we notice him we only give him half of our hearing because we're still so worried about catching fish. When we hear him in this way of course we are unwilling to leave our nets and follow.
Then they left their nets and followed him.
These fishermen did what they did because they saw and heard Jesus. They were so attentive to the call in that moment that there was no room for anything else, no second guessing or backup plans. Simon, Andrew, James, and John were all like the rest of us in that they were committed to the way of life they knew. But unlike most of us, when Jesus passed them by they were able to put all of that on pause for just long enough to receive the invitation of Jesus on his own terms, and not through the lens of their own interpretation and speculation.
If we can learn one thing from these conversion experiences it is that giving Jesus our full attention, even for a moment, can be life changing. When Jesus invites us to follow him, or to repent and believe, the entirety with which we engage that moment of invitation can be the difference between a response of 'I'll think about it' and the beginning of a conversion that can last a lifetime.
In times past, God spoke in partial and various ways
to our ancestors through the prophets;
in these last days, he spoke to us through the Son,
whom he made heir of all things
and through whom he created the universe
Our awareness, our listening, our readiness, should correspond to the reality of the one to whom we listen. He is the refulgence of the Father's glory and the very imprint of his being. He is the one who sustains our existence, including our nets and our livelihood, even our ability to listen and make decisions, by his mighty word. Even a glimmer of this realization can open our ears to not only listen but hear. Our hearts can not only be touched but converted.
The Lord is willing to help us with both of these aspects of discipleship. He wants us to know who he is. He is willing to give us revelations of his glory, not to entertain us, but to change us. He wants us to be able to listen and hear him with the complete trust that befits one who is all good, all knowing, and all powerful. He is willing to pass by himself, not merely in the partial and various ways in the past, but in personal relationship. In moments like this the revelation of who he is can merge with the power of what he is saying. In such moments our deepest resistance can be overcome. The sunk cost fallacies we believe about our nets can be corrected. We can leave our boats and our nets and follow him.
So they left their father Zebedee in the boat
along with the hired men and followed him.
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