Saturday, August 2, 2008

Leaving My Nets

I found something out today. Leaving people you love is extremely hard. I leave to head off to college in 5 days and today was the last time I’ll see my grandparents before I leave. They both have been such influential people in my life. I have been fortunate enough to have them live close and their house has always been a place of refuge. Today I sat down with them and talked about their memories of my childhood. I guess I never really realized how hard it would be watching them as we drove away. On the drive home I was thinking a lot about the whole situation. You know Jesus must have been a pretty compelling guy to have 12 men completely leave their families to follow him. I never really understood how that felt until today. I mean, they didn’t even blink. They just dropped what they we’re doing, some we’re even in the boat with their father, and followed him. From that point on they were led on adventure of a lifetime. From stormy waters to breaking all the rules of religion, Jesus was always dragging them into something. Now He’s calling me away from my nets. I’ve been casting these nets my entire life. I have to admit it has been harder for me to leave them than it was for the disciples. Although, now that I think about it they aren’t my nets at all, they have been and always will be His. He’s always going to be in control of my life, whether I’m in the midst of the familiar or diving into the unknown. Maybe that’s what the disciples found out on their wild rollercoaster ride with Jesus. Sometimes the unknown is just scary because… well… because it’s unknown. Here’s the thing though, God knows. That makes the unknown so much less scary. I have the creator of the universe on my side; what more could I ask for? I don’t know everything He has in store for me. I just know I have Him. Knowing that assures me that when I leave my nets He’s got some new ones waiting for me.




Matthew 4:18-20 (the Message)
Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, "Come with me. I'll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I'll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass." They didn't ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.

1 comment:

Veronica said...

hey! :D i didn't know you had one of these. :)

thanks for the update on the new email. i'm praying for you. how's it going so far? i'm really sorry i didn't get to see you when i was in dallas.... :(