Leave the Nets

Immediately they left their nets and followed him.

Matthew 4:20

Many of us have a strong desire to follow the Lord with all of our hearts, but we hold back a little. We aren’t always sure that God really has our backs. Sometimes we doubt if He really hears our prayers and wonder if He is busy helping other people instead of us. Therefore, we hold on to our backup plan, just in case God doesn’t come through for us.

It wasn’t like that for the disciples…when Jesus said, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” they immediately left their nets and followed Him. Leaving their nets meant leaving the only livelihood that they had and there was no backup plan. It was all Jesus. Period. What would make these men drop everything and follow Jesus?

#1) They believed in Jesus. Do we really believe in Jesus? When we give our lives to Him in faith, we believe that He has taken the penalty for our sins. We leave our nets, because we know that we are forgiven of our sins and granted eternal life.

#2) They believed in what Jesus said. Do we really believe the words of Jesus? Our lives reveal what we believe in the Bible. When we step out in faith and obey God’s commands by knowing and living it—we leave our nets of doubt and unbelief.

#3) They believed that what Jesus offered them was greater than what they had. Do we really believe that what Jesus gives us is greater than anything we have? If we are holding on to anything or anyone more than Jesus, we are still dragging our nets. When we let go of everything in pursuit of a relationship with Jesus Christ, we will gain everything we could ever desire in this world and the next.