What Will You Put Aside?

# 236 Today’s Living Word comes from Mark 1:19,20. “ When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.”

With Simon Peter and Andrew in tow, Jesus walks a little farther and finds James and John mending nets. ( I wonder if He said something like, “Follow Me and I will make you menders of men?) Well, that’s a nice thought but not something we can prove.

What we can ascertain from this passage is that James and John were leaving a fishing operation that was larger than the one that Peter and Andrew left. Zebedee had hired hands, Jonas didn’t. These young men were leaving a profitable family business behind for the sake of the call, yet they never gave it a second thought as they immediately left to follow Jesus.

The call of Jesus, requires leaving some things behind, but as Paul said after he had responded to the call that Jesus put on his life, all those things he left behind were pure rubbish compared to following Christ. (Philippians 3:8)

Jesus may pop into your life today and call on you to fish for a soul or perhaps speak a mending word or do a kindly deed. What will you put aside to respond to His call?

I’m Duane Matz and that’s today’s Living Word.