WHAT YOU CAN BE

Matt. 4:18-20  One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers—Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew—fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen.  Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!”  And they left their nets at once and went with him.  NLT

      What strikes me in these verses is that Jesus knew the potential in Peter and Andrew.  They were fishermen by trade, but they were far more than that in the Lord’s sight.  Fishing was the only thing that they had ever known.  They undoubtedly came from a long line of fishermen.  There was nothing wrong with being fishermen, but it no longer was to be what they were to do.  The Lord had other plans for their lives.

      We are not told, but it seems only reasonable to assume that they weren’t the only fishermen out in that part of the sea that day.  But, they were the ones the Lord chose to call.  He knew things about them that no one else knew; He knew their hearts.  He knew that they were humble men, open to doing what God wanted them to do.  We are not told how they knew that Jesus was worthy of being trusted and followed, but they knew He was.  They recognized Him as being God, even though at the time they did not fully understand what that meant.

      Jesus did not see them as fishermen; He saw them as servants who would one day be pillars of the early Church.  He did not see their limitations; He saw their potential.  We can be assured that when the Lord compels us to change the course of our lives and follow Him that He knows what He is doing.  The Lord knows what we are capable of, even if no one else thinks we can do it.  He never makes a mistake when He gives us an assignment in life.  If we are willing to give Him our all, He will do amazing things in us and through us.