Several years ago I left a job I had been at for over 24 years. It was not an easy decision to leave a job I was familiar with and comfortable doing but it was time to move on. It was time for a new job and new beginnings. Maybe God has called you away from what you know to the unfamiliar and maybe you, like me, are a bit reluctant. We tend to want to stay in comfortable and familiar places and It may seem easier to do so but sometimes God has a different plan for us.

When Jesus began his earthly ministry, He called some men to follow and learn from him. They were ordinary and unschooled fishermen just doing their ordinary work when Jesus saw them and called them. Mark 1:17 tells us the men fished for a living and Jesus called out to them, “Come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”  The men then left their nets “at once” and followed Jesus. A few verses down, Jesus called some more men and we are told they followed him at once, “leaving their father, Zebedee.” (v20) The men Jesus called could not have known the great plans he had for them but they were ready and willing to leave everything, the familiar and the comfortable, to follow Jesus. Following Jesus was costly but they were obedient.

We need to be like those first disciples. We need to be ready and willing to move forward to the unfamiliar and possibly uncomfortable thing God is calling us to. We may not understand the how and why but all we need to do is trust him.  Jesus assured those men that he would show them how to fish for people and his promise is good for us too. He will never call us to something and leave us to go about it alone. If God calls us to do something, he will show us and teach us and enable us to do it. And even when it costs us, we can be assured that God’s plans are good.

Don’t miss the fact that the men were doing the ordinary but it became extraordinary in Jesus’ hands. You might think that what you’re doing now has no meaning or importance but keep in mind it could be training you for your next step. Our earthly work can be transformed to impact God’s kingdom. All we need to do is be ready, be willing, and be obedient.

© 2019 Robin R King

Mark 1:16-20 New Living Translation (NLT)

The First Disciples

¹⁶ One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon^[a] and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. ¹⁷ Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”¹⁸ And they left their nets at once and followed him.

¹⁹ A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. ²⁰ He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.