David Bahn – Reflections

Matthew 4:22-23

Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, ²²and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

It’s so very easy to romanticize earlier times. We think of the good old days as being somehow peaceful and without stress or difficulty. My mother-in-law provides a wonderful counterpoint to that thought. She says that for her, especially, the good old days weren’t all that good; they were difficult and harsh on many levels.

We might have the same idea about the life of the early disciples. We hear about Jesus’ first disciples leaving their nets and following Jesus, or – in the case of James and John – leaving their boat and their father and following Jesus. And we think of it as an isolated incident of heroic proportion. Or we dismiss it as no big deal.

In fact it was no small sacrifice for these fishermen. Their life was anything but easy. The challenges they would face would ultimately cost them their lives. Too easily we dismiss their sacrifices as heroics and see no real way we are to follow their example. They were apostles, after all; we’re just believers.

So many times we forget that our lives are to be an offering to God; we are not to live for ourselves, but for Him who died for us and rose again (see 2 Corinthians 5:14-15). The decisions we make on a daily basis regarding everything from how we spend our money and time to whether we are willing to forgive someone, from whether or not we pray before a meal to whether we even think of praying for others: all these are evidence of the extent to which we are following Jesus. You don’t have to go to Africa to be a true follower of Christ. Often it’s a matter of walking across the room and engaging someone in conversation who is being ignored by the rest of the world.

Today is a good day to think about the motives for the choices you make: how might you show that you are living for Christ and not yourself? How might you follow Him when it comes to your neighbor or coworker, family member or friend?