I have been reading through the book of Matthew for the last couple of weeks for my daily devotional. Today I read Matthew 4:12-22. The part that has really stuck in my heart and mind today has been where Jesus said to Peter and Andrew, "Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Their response was "at once they left their nets and followed him." Then Jesus called James and John. Their response was the same, "and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."

I have always been intrigued by this passage. This was such a huge step of faith for these men. They literally dropped everything to follow Christ. These guys left things behind. Peter and Andrew left their nets. James and John not only left their boat, but their Father also. There was nothing wrong or harmful with the nets, the boat, or even ole' Zebedee, but Jesus had something far greater for them than these things.

If these four fishermen has not left these things behind, they would have lived your normal, ordinary life. Instead, they dropped their nets and left their family business behind and embraced the extraordinary. They saw some amazing things: a dead man come back to life, a raging sea that was calmed with a whisper, 5000 people fed with a meager 5 fish and 2 loaves, and many other miracles. More importantly, they experienced communion with God through their daily lives walking with Jesus. It was this time that they spent with Jesus experiencing his love and learning from him that transformed them from ordinary fishermen into extraordinary Fishers of men. God used these ordinary fishermen to change the world because they were faithful in following him.

It started with their faith to drop everything and leave it behind to follow Christ. Then Christ began to transform them into the people that He called them to be: fishers of men. Today, I am examining my heart for the things that I need to leave behind and follow Christ more faithfully than I ever have.