Come With Me
When you have a job that needs doing, you need the right tools. Some jobs can’t be done alone, and so we need the right people to help us.
Jesus needs the right people to help him.
Matthew 4:12-23 (CEV)
Jesus Begins His Work
12 When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he went to Galilee. 13 But instead of staying in Nazareth, Jesus moved to Capernaum. This town was beside Lake Galilee in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. 14 So God’s promise came true, just as the prophet Isaiah had said,
15 “Listen, lands of Zebulun
and Naphtali,
lands along the road
to the sea
and east
of the Jordan!
Listen Galilee,
land of the Gentiles!
16 Although your people
live in darkness,
they will see
a bright light.
Although they live
in the shadow of death,
a light will shine
on them.”
17 Then Jesus started preaching, “Turn back to God! The kingdom of heaven will soon be here.”
Jesus Chooses Four Fishermen
18 While Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw two brothers. One was Simon, also known as Peter, and the other was Andrew. They were fishermen, and they were casting their net into the lake. 19 Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” 20 Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him.
21 Jesus walked on until he saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat with their father, mending their nets. Jesus asked them to come with him too. 22 Right away they left the boat and their father and went with Jesus.
Jesus Teaches, Preaches, and Heals
23 Jesus went all over Galilee, teaching in the Jewish meeting places and preaching the good news about God’s kingdom. He also healed every kind of disease and sickness.
‘Turn back to God’,
that was his cry.
We heard him,
though we weren’t sure what he meant.
How could we turn back to God,
I’m not sure we’d ever turned
from him.
We might not be as religious
as we could be,
but we believed in God,
of course we did.
Then it all became much more personal,
no longer a general cry to the crowds,
he came
specifically
right over to us.
We were minding our own business,
getting on with our fishing,
doing what we’d always done.
Jesus came and said,
‘Come with me’.
He told us nothing about where we were going,
just that we were going to fish for people
instead of fish.
What on earth does that mean?
Who knows,
who knew…
But do you know,
we went with him,
we left everything we had,
our business,
our livelihood,
everything.
There was something about Jesus,
something that just meant
that you couldn’t ignore him,
we had to go and find out more,
see what it was all about.
Our nets would still be there tomorrow.
As we went along,
he called to two more,
come and join us,
come and see.
They left all their stuff too,
and their dad.
So off we went.
Who knew what kind of adventure we were on.
Lord,
when I hear your call,
may I respond,
leave what I am doing
to follow your invitation
to come with you
- In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
Pam's Perambulation 