CALLED TO FOLLOW JESUS Luke 5:1-11 Someone wrote a very insightful few lines of poetry when they penned these words.
A call from God, a new and untried way; A voice that in the stillness thus does say; “Go out into the field and work today;” A heart that in the darkness does obey – And goes, not knowing whither!
Being called by the Lord to follow Him and serve Him is no trivial matter. Holy service does not come through our education, natural talents, or the will of other people. It certainly is not based on our desire for an occupation in the area of religion. The Lord takes the initiative to call a person to serve Him. What that person does with a call from God determines what their life will be like.
Peter met the Lord shortly after Jesus had been baptized, far to the south of Capernaum, where he now lived. Perhaps when he first met Jesus, and Jesus knew his name already, his first response was, “How does He know my name and my father’s name? Why did He say my name would be changed?” There were three stages in the call of Peter to follow the Lord, similar to the lives of the other three associates of his, and they are also true of us. The first introduction was a long way from home, where he had been listening to John the Baptist and then met Jesus. That first meeting would never have been forgotten.
Shortly after Jesus began preaching the Gospel, He spoke to Peter and Andrew while they were fishing and to James and John while they were cleaning their nets with their father. They left to follow Jesus for a while but returned to work. In Capernaum, they would have heard the Lord Jesus teach in the synagogue and would have seen Him command the demon to come out of a man. Peter’s home was open to Jesus, and he had seen Jesus heal his mother-in-law, so a connection was likely maintained between the Lord Jesus Christ and those men.
Jesus had many disciples who were “learners, " attracted to His teaching, and impressed with His authority. He explained the scriptures in ways they could understand and demonstrated His power and authority over demons and disease. Therefore, they were learners of His teaching but had never “taken His yoke” upon them and learned of Him, and learned meekness and lowliness of heart, so consequently didn’t have real rest in their souls. At this point in His ministry, He began to call some to be permanent disciples who would leave their work and homes to be with Him all the time. The training time had come as He prepared them to be future laborers in the harvest after He went back to heaven.
Peter had three major decisions at different times in his life. The first was when he had to choose between heaven and hell. That was when he put his personal faith in Jesus as his Savior and Lord. This second time, which he likely recounted to Luke, was when he chose between heaven and earth. Would he really leave all and follow Christ? Apparently, his wife used to be with him at least some of the time, according to Paul’s comment later in 1st Corinthians 9:5, but much of his life and service would be in the company of the Lord and “the brethren of the Lord.” After the resurrection and before the ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ into heaven, he was challenged again as to whether he was willing to walk by faith or sight [John 21:22]. Each of these times involved “following” the Lord as a choice he had to make in response to the word of the Lord.
Like Peter, we, too, should open our homes to the Lord and use them to minister to Him by ministering to His people and others who seek Him. Then, whatever we have that our Lord can use, we give to Him gladly for His purpose of furthering the work of the kingdom of God. “Naught that I have, mine own I’ll call, I’ll hold it for the Giver; my heart, my strength, my life, my all, are His and His forever.” When our Lord Jesus calls us to a life of service and fellowship with Him, we should “fear not” to do what He says. When He gives us a challenge and then gives proof of a call, we can go forward in faith to follow Him in unknown paths and ways.
As Jesus was standing and teaching people by the lake, the press of people moved Him to ask Peter, a man He already knew well, to push his boat off from the shore so people could see Him and He could see them as He was teaching. Then came the test of a true call to serve the Lord. At the time of day when fish are most unlikely to be caught, Jesus told Peter to do something that was the opposite of his professional judgment. Would he obey the Lord or not?
That same question will confront believers who love the Lord but are still in the world and used to the world’s system and its ways. When a challenge comes to doing God’s work in a very different way from our experience, expectations, and preconceived notions, what are we to do? If it is a temptation to do wrong, there is no question. We must not be involved in that. If a test is given to determine if this is the right time to do the right thing, but it is an inopportune time for me or is contrary to my expertise and personal opinion, that is the real challenge. “My heart is fixed, eternal God, fixed on Thee, fixed on Thee; and my immortal choice is made, Christ for me.”
Peter openly expressed his doubts but also openly expressed his recognition of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ as his Master. He would do as Jesus said. “At Your word” was an open confession of his faith in the Lord, even though his knowledge of fishing told him it was a useless thing to do. He was willing to do what the Lord Jesus said because of who He was, not just what He could do or how Peter would profit from it. This set him apart from all the people who were wanting knowledge from Jesus’ teaching and healing from diseases that plagued them. Peter was interested in the Lord Himself and was willing to carry out what seemed to him to be an exercise in futility simply because of who Jesus was and what He asked of Peter.
The rewards of faith in Christ may be very different for different people. Peter wanted to help the Lord in His teaching ministry in a way that he could by having Jesus use his boat. The Lord rewarded Peter in a way that suited his needs. He had fished all night and caught nothing. Peter and his partners were blessed beyond their hopes in a very short time and in a way that was obviously an act of God. Peter knew that was an act of God, and he was made seriously aware that he was in the presence of the Lord God. That made him fully conscious of who he was and where he was so that the only thing he could do was fall at Jesus’ feet.
A person who knows by nature that he is sinful is humbled and fearful in the presence of the One who is absolutely holy. Real fear accompanies real awareness of who our Lord Jesus Christ is. How good it is of our Lord to allow us to “draw near with a true heart and in full assurance of faith.” In a place of potential fear, God’s people can come into His presence with respect and reverence and, by faith, find comfort instead of fear. Grace doesn’t put a barrier up but opens the door to holy fellowship when obedience, despite doubts, controls our hearts and actions. When we as believers realize and are willing to admit to our failures and sinfulness, we know in ourselves we cannot be and do what God wants. God is willing to “do His good pleasure in these same dependent people.”
The demons were aware of Jesus and His inherent holiness. They felt threatened by His authority and power. Simon and Peter recognized the holiness and power of the Lord Jesus, too. The difference was that the demons knew Jesus as a powerful and dangerous enemy of theirs. Simon Peter was also uncomfortable because he knew he was a failing ordinary human being in the presence of One with supernatural power who had blessed him.
In this scene, which Luke records, Jesus established His authority in the lives of ordinary people. He had done that in the synagogue as He unfolded the scriptures to the people and cast a demon out of a man. He had also done that as people surrounded Him, wanting Him to heal them. He met these fishermen on their level and helped them in their daily work. In doing this, He changed their whole focus on life. “From now on, you will catch men.” Following Jesus means more than knowing Him as our Savior. When we leave the past point of personal focus and commit our future to Him, there is a change in us. Leaving everything and following the Lord is not the same for everyone. What we do when we follow Him depends on Him. My part is to bow to His sovereign will and trust Him to guide me to be engaged in whatever activities He places before me.