I just love hearing those stories—the stories of how couples first fell in love. I like to know how the man, despite all his manly awkwardness, managed to somehow catch his amazing bride. How did he first catch her eye? And, more importantly, how did he eventually catch her heart? Have you been caught? I don’t mean by a husband or a wife, either. I mean, have you been caught by Jesus? We see in our verses today a story of the first time Jesus went fishing. But, oddly enough, He didn’t fish for fish. He fished for men. And as He was walking by the sea, He called Peter and Andrew to follow Him. Boy, they were caught fast! They immediately left their real fishing nets to become Jesus’ disciples. Do you know how I know they were really caught? It’s because they left their old life behind. They left their nets as litter on the shoreline to follow Jesus. They became fully dependent on Him. They followed Him because He so caught them that they now joined their lives completely to His. Something amazing happened to them when they let Jesus catch them so completely— they became qualified to catch others. You see, when God catches us, He transforms us. He doesn’t leave us where we are, but He makes us His disciples, His sons and daughters. Then, as disciples, we do what our teacher taught us. As sons and daughters, we want to be just like our Daddy. And so we do for others what someone once did for us—we love. We cast God’s nets of love and freedom out to the world around us and see who we can catch. The most wonderful part of all this to me is that, no matter how much we grow, no mat- ter how many new fishermen we catch who then catch others, Jesus stays with us the whole time, showing us just how much love and freedom there is in the nets that first caught us. Look at your life today. Look deep into your heart. Have you been caught by Jesus? Prayer Lord Jesus, I desperately need Your love and freedom in my life! Thank You for casting Your nets to catch me. I let You catch me today! Amen
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 12:53:02 +0000