LEAVING YOUR BUSINESS TO FOLLOW JESUS

Peter, Andrew, James, and John left their own fishing businesses to follow Jesus (Matthew 4:18-22, Mark 1:16-20, Luke 5:10-11)

I often hear people refer to some of Jesus’ apostles–Peter, Andrew, James, John–as simple fishermen. For the modern mind, we envision that they sat at the end of a pier casting a fishing line in the water over and over again, and drinking beer to pass the day.

The truth is, Peter, Andrew, James, and John owned their own fishing business centered out of the town of Capernaum that was located on the northwest shore of Lake Galilee.

Not only was fishing in Lake Galilee using nets extremely physical and exhausting–often fishing all night–they also had to run their business by day. They owned boats, had to take care and repair their nets, and market their fish at the local fishing processing centers on the western shore of Lake Galilee.

So, when Jesus called them to become his disciples, they didn’t simply leave their fishing pole at the end of the pier for a more exciting life. No, they left behind everything they had invested in their entire fishing business–all the investment in their boats and equipment, and ultimately the financial security for their families.

They sacrificially left it all behind to follow Jesus.

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