Matthew 4:18-25
18 As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea; they were fishermen.
19 He said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
20 At once they left their nets and followed him.
21 He walked along from there and saw two other brothers, James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They were in a boat, with their father Zebedee, mending their nets. He called them,
22 and immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him.
23 He went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people.
24 His fame spread to all of Syria, and they brought to him all who were sick with various diseases and racked with pain, those who were possessed, lunatics, and paralytics, and he cured them.
25 And great crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan followed him.
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"At once they left their nets and followed him .... immediately they left their boat and their father and followed him."
The response of the apostles to Jesus was immediate and radical. He said "come after me", and they dropped everything and came.
I've come to believe that Christ truly has a similar call to all of us. We are called in different ways and to different vocations, but we are definitely called. As a married man with children, I can't just leave my family behind. What I can do is ask God to change me so that Christ is truly first in my life. More important than work, TV, Nebraska football, etc. If I'm truly to answer Christ's call to me, I need to be aware of that. I may or may not be called to physically leave other things behind, but I am completely convinced that I need to mentally leave them behind if I want to really grow in my spiritual life. The more I can do that and just trust Jesus, the better off I will be.
