“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” – Isaiah 43:1 (ESV)

^“ And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” – Mark 16: 15-18 (ESV)

“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” – Matthew 4:19 (BSB)

“I will make you fishers of men, fishers of men, fishers of men, I will make you fishers of men If you follow me.” As a child, I remember singing this song in Sunday School, with its simple but powerful lyrics.

As I think about that song, I think about how simple the call of Jesus can be when all the fluff is stripped away. Simple enough that a child can sing about it in a few words. Yes, rare exceptions exist where the call feels a bit more fanciful. Such as when Jesus called Saul, with flashing lights so bright they blinded Saul, and a voice from Heaven so loud that everyone with Saul heard it (Acts 9). Still though, it was a simple call – with a direct question and a direct instruction, Saul was called. At the root of it, right at the very core, all Jesus asks is that we follow Him. He is kind enough to do it in a way that we can hear. For some, a whisper is sufficient, for others, He might turn the volume up a bit. No matter what sound the call takes though, the onus is on us to respond and follow, as it was on Jesus’ disciples. The Chosen series really brings to life the process of Jesus calling His disciples in a relatable way, and is definitely worth a watch.

In reflecting on the process of Jesus calling His disciples, there are some lessons I have learnt, and these lessons apply even today:

1. God’s calling requires us to sacrifice all, to leave all behind. When Jesus called the first disciples, as soon as they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him (Luke 5:11). However, there were other people Jesus called, but sadly they had various excuses. “Jesus said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead! Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But Jesus told him, “Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:59-62, NLT).

This does not mean that God is telling us to abandon our families and responsibilities. After all, Simon Peter had a mother in law, which meant he had a wife. And 1 Timothy 5:8 states “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” What it means then, as in the illustration of the farmer with the plow, is that we can’t keep looking back. If a farmer is ploughing and looks back instead of straight ahead, it could be very dangerous, as that farmer could harm someone with the plow. It also means that the farmer will probably do a shoddy job, which will make planting difficult. As such, we can’t say we want to follow Jesus and keep flirting with the world. It’s like getting married. We have to forsake all others and cleave to our bridegroom, Jesus. To leave and cleave. To lay aside weights and besetting sins (Hebrews 12:1). One shouldn’t get married and continue flirting with others, subtly or otherwise. If they do, it means they are not ready for marriage. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me”” – Matthew 16:24 (NLT). God’s calling requires single-minded, resolute, complete and utter devotion to God and His work, not looking forlornly at the past and all the loves we left behind. We “forget the things behind and reach forward to the things ahead” (Philippians 3:13).

2. Responding to God’s call requires faith and trust. This is so crucial especially seeing as we are being asked to leave everything behind! As I read somewhere, “Don’t stay on the boat when God is calling you to step out on the water”. God is not a cruel commander that will send His soldiers to battle unprepared or ill-equipped. No, He has given us all the armour, training, resources we need. As The Great Commission notes, He has empowered us, and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He has so much in store for us. The harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few (Luke 10:2), but we need to be willing labourers who have faith and trust Him. As Luke 18:8 notes, “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

3. God chooses the willing not the worthy. Simon Peter famously declared his sinfulness and unworthiness when Jesus called him (Luke 5:8). Not that Jesus didn’t already know that, mind you. The beauty of God’s call is that He makes the willing worthy. Jesus calls us to come as we are, not to have a shower first before coming. Leighton Ford notes though that “God loves us the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way.” We may respond to His call unclean and unkempt, muddy and murky, but He provides the blood that washes us whiter than snow, and leaves us cleaner than any shower or soap we use can do. And as Os Guiness states, “Calling is not only a matter of being and doing what we are, but also of becoming what we are not yet, but are called by God to be.”

4. God’s calling may not always seem natural to you. It may for some people, but it may not for others. But, as I read somewhere, “God will not call us for something He has not wired us to do”. We just may not be aware of the wiring! He called fishermen to become fishers of men. The wiring was already there, but it was now serving a different purpose. They knew fishing, they knew what catching fish entailed, they knew how disappointing it was to ‘toil all night’ and yet not catch anything. They knew that not every fish that was caught would make it to a dining table to serve its purpose and bless someone’s stomach. They knew that some may possibly escape the net. They knew how to sit and wait patiently for a catch. All that was very useful, but the most important thing was that they were willing to follow Jesus. And that was what mattered the most. Where we have strengths, God will utilise them. He knows our strengths, after all He created us. Where we have weaknesses, God will strengthen us personally, and through people He has strategically placed in our lives. When we are discouraged because we have only one fish after toiling all night, He reminds us that He is the Shepherd that will leave the ninety-nine behind in search of one, and that there is “more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God” (Luke 15:3-7, NLT).

5. It is unlikely we will see the entire journey God’s calling will take us through, the rough terrain, the steep mountains with jagged edges, the deep valleys, the turbulent seas, the fierce opposition – sometimes taunting us by the roadside, sometimes forming a barricade to stop us moving forward. In fact, if Jesus did show us the entire journey, we would probably run in the opposite direction like Jonah. It will not always be easy. As Jesus said in Luke 10:3 (NLT), “Now go, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves.” And 2 Timothy 3:12 (NIV) states that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” But, as we continue to follow Jesus, He reveals what we are to do step by step. All we can do is continue to walk with Him and trust Him to reveal the next step at the right time. This is how we can endure to the end and finish the race.

6. Therefore, when we respond to the call of Jesus, following Him is essential. We cannot execute His call effectually without following Him. However we can’t physically follow Jesus around like the disciples did back then. So what does following Him mean today? In the simplest of terms, it is looking at the life of Jesus and emulating it. We literally copy Jesus’ actions. How He loved His Father, and completely prioritised doing His Father’s will, spending time with His Father, giving His Father all the glory. How He had a heart for people – compassion for those who were lost, sick, downcast, outcasts, people suffering in one way or the other. He LOVED people, oh how He did. His compassion wasn’t just words, but included actions, even at great cost to Himself. As Christians, this is our primary general calling. However, we may also have a specific calling. For Jesus, that involved dying on the cross. That was the toughest, most brutal, most challenging calling ever. Most people, if given a choice of assignments, especially if given the first choice, would go for the easy one. Jesus however chose the toughest assignment. As such, nothing we are called to carry will be heavier than what Jesus bore. It won’t be like Maths assignments in school, where an easy example is used to illustrate how to solve the problem, but then the actual question we are to answer is much tougher. With Jesus, the reverse is the case. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin” – Hebrews 4:15 (ESV).

7. God’s calling comes hand in hand with incredibly lavish mercy. Romans 11:29 (ESV) states that “the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” In other words, once Jesus has called you, that’s it. C’est fini. He won’t change His mind. Simon Peter denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times, in Jesus’ greatest hour of need (Luke 22:54-62), but Jesus had already forgiven Him and prayed for Him (Luke 22:32). Jesus knew beforehand that Simon would deny Him, and yet it didn’t stop Jesus from choosing Simon as His disciple, or letting Simon continue on as His disciple. When Thomas doubted what Jesus had clearly and repeatedly said, again Jesus did not rescind Thomas’ position as a disciple. Rather, Jesus met Thomas where his faith was at. Jesus let Thomas touch His wounds in order to help Thomas strengthen his faith and belief (John 20:24-29). God is patient, loving and merciful. If you’ve left His calling on the right side of the road and gone to the left instead, you can make that U-turn and go right again.

I pray that as we hear and heed to God’s call today, we will respond with willing hearts, and remember and reflect on these lessons. Jesus who called us is infallible, He always keeps His promises and is therefore utterly dependable. He has empowered us and He is with us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He is the wisest, most knowledgeable, most loving guide we could ever have. He knows what it is like, He personally tested the waters before asking us to jump into the sea and walk with Him. He is merciful and always ready to forgive. Fear not, for God has redeemed you. He has called you by name. You are His.

Image source here.