Jesus of Nazareth asks us to follow Him.

01-26-2020Weekly Reflection© LPi

It begins! Jesus is doing something new. “He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea.” Jesus leaves his family, his profession of carpentry, and everything he has known and loved for the previous 30 years.

He goes because it is time. Something new is beginning, and Jesus will not begin it alone. “As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers … he walked along from there and saw two other brothers.” What does he say to these men? “Come after me.” These words are for Peter and Andrew, for James and for John. They are also for all of us.

“Come after me.” The adventure of discipleship will be strange, wild, and unexpected. The Apostles surely didn’t know what they were getting into. But the invitation is accompanied by a promise. “I will make you fishers of men,” Jesus tells the first Apostles. No more will their priorities be limited to this particular village, to the square miles of the Sea of Galilee. Their eyes will be open to the kingdom of God, and their priorities will shift.

Most of us will not be called to roam the countryside, but we are invited to a similar shift of priorities. “Come after me,” Jesus says. “At once they left their nets and followed him.” Drop the nets of what you’ve demanded your life to be. Drop your self-seeking priorities. Drop your concept of religion as a Sunday obligation and no more. Drop your disregard for those outside your immediate social sphere. Whatever it is that keeps you from seeing as Jesus sees, from loving as he loves, start to drop it today. Because the kingdom of God is waiting for your yes!/p> BACK TO LIST