"Drop Your Nets And Your Excuses"

By: Zach Wood

Matthew 4:19-20

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."  At once they left their nets and followed him.

 

 

Since my wife and I moved to our current apartment last November, there's been several times that we've had to go through our clothes and pick what we don't need anymore.  The first time my wife explained this to me after we had moved, I had a very bewildered look on my face.  She said, "You need to get rid of some things so that we have room for baby clothes".  I was thinking, "Great, my kid isn't even born yet and I have to get rid of clothes".  Don't get me wrong, I was excited about having a baby, but not excited about pitching out some of the clothes I've had for a while.  I'm embarrassed to say it was painful to throw out some of the stuff I got rid of.  The clothes were not bad or hazardous for me to keep, but I simply needed to make room for other important things to come.  I cried for a few days (okay, maybe not that long!), but finally went through my clothes and picked out what needed to go. 

 

Many of us have had times when we've gone through stuff, whether in our closets, garages, attics, sheds, or wherever.  We've had to make the time to go through and rid of what we don't need anymore.  Sometimes, it's just to get rid of stuff we don't need.  However, other times, it's to make room for other things to come.  Maybe we have to throw out the "old" before something "new" comes along.  The new thing may even be better.  In my case, it was me moving some old clothes to make room for my beautiful baby girl's clothes. 

 

Sometimes in our lives, Christ calls us to get rid of certain things so that He can bring even better things to us.  Tonight at our VBS, the memory verse was from the story of Jesus calling the first two disciples, Simon Peter and Andrew.  As I listened, I learned something new.  Jesus called these men to come and follow Him.  And, guess what they did?  They dropped their nets and immediately followed Him!  As I sat there, I pondered whether they were tempted for the slightest moment to offer an excuse or two to Jesus.  Could you imagine them saying, "Well, you know Jesus, I just don't think I can drop what I'm doing here and follow you right now.  I've got a job to do here and I really like it"?  They offered no excuses and no questions.  They just dropped what they had and took off with Jesus.  Wow! 

 

The two words I think about most in this passage are "at once".  Simon Peter and Andrew didn't sit down with Jesus and go into a long, drawn-out story about why they should continue doing what they were doing.  What they were doing wasn't a bad thing, but Jesus had something much, much better in store for them.  He was going to make them fishers of men.  They were good fishermen, but Jesus wanted to make them even better than fishermen.  He wanted to make them fishers of men.  The two men had to stop what they were doing and follow Jesus in order to have something even better.  Jesus wanted to bring them to a whole new level of adventure! 

 

Maybe there are some things in your life that Jesus is calling you to drop so that He can lead you to something better and more adventurous.  Those things are not necessarily bad in any way and they may be very good, but maybe Jesus has something even better in store for you.  Sometimes, Jesus calls us to drop our current nets so that we can pick up new nets for a new venture in life.  How exciting!  And...maybe scary at the same time.  Each of us have felt that "tug" in our hearts to do something different that God is calling us to do, but we offer so many excuses and give Him reasons as to why the "nets" we're holding are better than anything more He can offer.  When we offer these excuses and hold our current nets too long, we can be missing out on some really neat adventures. 

 

Will we be willing to drop our nets and excuses to have something better?  Will we hesitate or immediately follow Him?