Peter and the others are freed from fear for a purpose, they are given a mission. “From now on you will fish for people.” This freedom that Jesus brings is not like a ticket for the cup final at Wembley that you tuck away safely and keep checking it is there every so often. It is a treasure to tell everyone about. Luke 4 shows us Jesus on his mission to make the good news of the kingdom known and in Luke 5 he is calling others who have responded to that news to sharer his mission. He is training and equipping those who will be his witnesses in Acts and take his mission to other towns, cities, countries and continents also.
The promise of Jesus “Do not be afraid…” the message of the good news must go on being proclaimed, it must not end when Jesus is no longer with them because it is the most important news anyone can hear. They are not saved to sit they are saved to serve; they are not freed for futility but freed to fish for people. To tell others about the great rescue, freedom and grace they have experienced and call others to grasp it too.
“Religion isn’t about miracles or rival claims to truth. It’s about giving our lives direction and meaning giving us hope and a sense that life has value.”
You certainly see direction and hope and what could give our lives more value than to know that we are loved by God. But religion is not what people need, not religion without truth, and you can’t separate Jesus words from the miraculous. What we need is the truth of Jesus words, the good news of the kingdom, freedom, hope and something to live for. That is not found in a tepid watered down man made religion. As Peter found it is in Jesus.
Do you believe that is what the world needs? That the good news is the most important in the world. If we have experienced his grace then how can we not share it with others, the only right reaction is like Peter and the others “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” It doesn’t mean we necessarily give up work, but it does mean our reason for work is altered, it is now a God given sphere in which to live out and proclaim his kingdom, it doesn’t mean abandoning our hobbies; it means they become the place where God has placed me to make his kingdom known. It means that everything; my diary, my credit card, my time, my energy are now inextricably tied up with his mission that by his grace has become mine.
Praise God we are freed from fear to follow and as followers we are called to fish, to bring others to experience grace.
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