How quickly our lives can turn around! Circumstances can change in an instant. A car turns wrong in front of us, and suddenly we are dealing with life and death issues, when only moments before we were thinking about mundane errands, or our bills, or our vacations.
We can be stuck in a dead-end job, or thinking we will forever follow this career path or live in this place, when suddenly an opportunity presents itself through a word, a phone call or an email and we are off on something new and different.
The eternal will often thrust itself into the immediate as well. One day some men were fishing. It was what they did almost every day. It was their occupation. It was how they earned their living in this life. They watched the weather. They went to their boats. They put out from shore. They cast their net into the sea . . . “for they were fishermen.” [Matthew 4:18-22]
This day would be different, however, because the Eternal was walking by and was about to thrust Himself into their immediate. “Come, follow me . . . and I will make you fishers of men,” and Scripture reports, “at once they left their nets and followed him.”
In a moment’s notice, life was completely different for these men. Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their nets, their boats, their life-long occupations and followed this man who called to them by the Sea of Galilee.
For the next three years they would walk with Him, listen to His words, and view His life. Their hearts would be exalted to the highest heights; and for a moment as they viewed the cross, their hopes would be crushed to the deepest depths. They would become preachers and martyrs. They would know persecution and great triumphs. They would see the salvation of God taken to the world.
In one brief moment of time, they would become consumed with the Eternal. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” [John 10:27-28]
The Eternal is walking by and wants to thrust Himself into our immediate, “Come, follow me.” Let’s drop those nets, walk away from our boats, and never turn back.
