Curious, Convinced, Or Committed

Now I would guess that they talked for several minutes, maybe hours… The Bible doesn’t say this, but I would think that the conversation made them at least curious – and from there, they were convinced – and from there, they were committed… For Jesus said, “Follow me… and immediately they left their nets and followed Him…”

And as we keep reading, we see that from there, Jesus walked further down the beach until He came upon two more brothers, James & John… and they were mending their nets with their father Zebedee… And we’re told that Jesus called them & immediately, they left the boat & their father, and followed Jesus…

I don’t think you & I can comprehend what the Bible is saying… These men were just ordinary people – fishermen working on the Sea of Galilee… They were ordinary businessmen – like a farmer, insurance salesman, teacher, mill worker – they had families, they had homes – they had taxes to pay… But the Bible says, “Jesus called them – and immediately, they left their nets, they left their boats, James & John even left their father – and they followed Jesus…”

Isn’t that amazing! Right there on the spot, they just decided to give up their life & follow Jesus… Yes! That’s amazing! But friends, THAT’S WHAT WE’RE CALLED TO DO!

The only difference between us & them, is COMMITMENT…

There was a hen & pig discussing the farmers upcoming birthday… The hen suggested it would be nice if they gave him some bacon & eggs for breakfast… The pig thought for a moment and said, “There’s only one thing wrong with giving him bacon & eggs… for you it only requires a contribution, but for me it requires total commitment…”

You see, Jesus calls us too! We’re ordinary people, just living our lives day to day, doing whatever it is we do… And Jesus walks by, He sees us, and He calls us – and it’s the same calling, “Follow me,” and yet, some of us aren’t committed to His calling… We don’t follow because we’re not hungry & thirsty for righteousness – because we’re not committed… And it’s so sad!

Let me share story with you about some church people… It’s about 4 people in the church whose names were Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody…

The church had some financial responsibilities and Everybody was asked to help… Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it… Anybody could have done it… But you know who did it? Nobody… It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done…

Then the church grounds needed some work, and Somebody was asked to help… But Somebody got mad, because Anybody could have done it, and after all, it was really Everybody’s job… In the end the work was given to Nobody, and Nobody did a fine job…

On & on it went… Whenever work was to be done, Nobody could always be counted on… Nobody visited the sick, Nobody gave his time, Nobody shared his faith… In short, Nobody was a very faithful member…

Finally the day came when Somebody left the church and took Anybody & Everybody with him… Guess who was left. Nobody! Isn’t that a sad story?