Are You Willing To Follow?

11 Jan

After John had been arrested,
Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the Gospel of God:
“This is the time of fulfillment.
The Kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the Gospel.”
As he passed by the Sea of Galilee,
he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea;
they were fishermen.
Jesus said to them,
“Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.”  (Mk 1:14-17)

In today’s Gospel, we hear about the call of Simon and Andrew as well as James and John.  They were all fishermen who probably did not know a whole lot more.  They would have been experienced in the winds and the seas, the tides, the movement of the fish, the many ways to catch fish, and matters of the kind.  But that certainly would not have qualified them to become leaders, teachers, “fishers of men”.

Yet that was exactly what the Lord was calling them to be.  Jesus was calling them away from their comfort zone.  He was calling them away from all that was predictable.  He was calling them away from all of their creature comforts, including their families and friends.

If we look at that call dispassionately, we could easily say that there is “no way in God’s green earth” that we would do the same.  Why would we want to walk away from the predictable, the comfortable?

And yet, that is what our God asks of us as well.

One of the reasons, I believe, is that, as human beings, we tend to “set the bar” really low.  We set expectations at the level where we can achieve them, with plenty of room to spare.  We often do not push ourselves to go above and beyond.  But the Lord does.

Jesus asks us to step outside of our comfort zones.  He asks us to do incredible things, things that we would think were impossible.  He asks us to feed the poor, the cure the sick, to raise the dead.  He asks us to bring His Good News to the entire world.

He needs us to be His hands and His feet.  He needs us to be His voice.  He calls us today, “Follow me”.  What will be your answer?

FAITH ACTION:  In quiet contemplation today, ask the Lord to help you to discern what it is He wants of you as well as the courage to accept His call.