Day 13 – By the Shore: Follow Me!

“Then Jesus said to Simon, ‘Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.’ So, they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed Him” (Luke 5:10-11)

“Fear not and follow Me.”

Five words that sum up the call that Christ makes to all of us. Casting aside our concern about tomorrow and our fears about what others are going to say and think. Until we can do this, we can never truly follow Jesus.

For Peter and the other disciples, following Christ meant leaving behind the old life (including the incredible catch of fish), giving up everything, their boats, their nets, and their livelihood, and following Christ into an unknown future. Dietrich Bonhoeffer said – “They must burn their boats and plunge into absolute insecurity in order to learn the demand and the gift of Christ.”

Turning loose everything must precede coming. Anything that hinders our walk with Christ must go. We must let somethings go in order that a better thing can come from the Lord. We cannot have it both ways. To follow means “to walk the same road.” That is what a disciple does – he or she walks the same road as Jesus. He gets on the “Jesus Road” and never leaves it and goes wherever it leads us. We get no guarantees, no deals, no special promises. We simply walk that road every day, following in our Master’s footsteps.

Fear can never be the reason that we don’t follow Jesus. Never regret starting down the “Jesus Road.” The only regret that you will have is what took me so long to do it.

Are you ready to follow Jesus wherever He leads? That is where it all begins. The rest is just details.

Grant that my fears are replaced by faith, allow me to gladly leave all to follow after You and let me hold nothing back. Not even a little bit! Amen.