Disciples Follow Jesus from a Place of Humility
Halfway through this week we kick off the Lenten Season with an Ash Wednesday Service, so named for the ashes on the forehead commonly used in worship that day. At the end of our normal devotional material will be a daily quote from a book on Spiritual Formation that we are using during Lent. The book is written by John Mark Comer and is titled "The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry".
Following Jesus as We Come 'n Go
Having counted the cost as directed by Jesus, disciples of Jesus follow Him fully – all in.
If you do these devotions solo, consider doing this week’s with someone – or at least talking about them with someone at another time.
Luke 5:1-11
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”
6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.
Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.
Footnotes:
[a] Luke 5:1 That is, the Sea of Galilee
Pondering Point
Do you see the interplay of come-and-go language between Peter and Jesus? Peter says “go away” but Jesus counters with “Come, follow me.” Rather than go further away as requested, Jesus wants the opposite from Peter: to come closer, physically, spiritually, mentally – all of him – all day, every day. He wants the same for you – all of you – all day, every day. Go, not from Him, but to Him – follow Him.
Prayer
I’m coming Jesus!
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Knowing that we are asking you to say “Yes” to a new thing and read a book, let’s start with a quote about reading from our author John Mark Comer:
Can you guess how much time the average American spends on social media each year? The number is 705 hours. TV... 2737.5 hours. Meaning, for just a fraction of the time we give to social media and television, we could all become avid readers to the Nth degree.
[Charles] Chu: Here's the simple truth behind reading a lot of books. It's not that hard. We have all the time we need. The scary part – the part we all ignore – is that we are too addicted, too weak, and too distracted to do what we know is important what we all know is important. If this is true of reading, how much more is it true of our lives with God?
J.M. Comer, The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry, p.72