My father was a very skilled mechanic. People from all over town knew my dad and his prowess with tools and the nuts and bolts of a vehicle. On several occasions, my dad would call my name, “Dion, come on and go with me. I’m going to fix ________’s car.” I would hurriedly jump in my father’s car to watch his mastery in fixing problems. The sad truth though, is that I rarely paid attention. I was off doing other things like playing with my transformer toys. You would think being the son of a master mechanic would mean that I am a master mechanic. Unfortunately, other than changing a flat tire and replacing the windshield wiper fluid, I stink at car mechanics.
I wonder how it felt to be called by Jesus to “follow” him. Peter, Andrew, James and John were blessed to be among the first ones called to follow Jesus as he “fixed” things. Those four saw Jesus preach, teach, heal and change lives. They had front row seats as they watched Jesus spread a message of hope and healing. Given the testimony of these early disciples in other texts in scripture, I’ve got to believe that they didn’t waste time doing other things.
Reflect: If Jesus calls you to follow, will you leave everything? Will you follow and learn? Will you mimic what Jesus does? Do you feel he has given you enough to be fishers of people?
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.