Immediately they left their nets and followed Him (Matthew 4:20).
Frankly, this verse has always disturbed me. Although it introduces us to two amazing men, Peter and Andrew, whom Jesus transformed from fishermen to fishers of men, I can’t get my mind around the scenario in the twenty-first century. Imagine a stranger walking up to you while you are working. You don’t know this man, but He says, “Follow Me.” And it means giving up all that’s familiar in your life to follow Him. Yes, He’s dynamic and charismatic. But dropping everything and blindly following Him? I just can’t identify with that.
Fortunately, it didn’t happen that way. Look at Scripture in light of Scripture. Before this, Andrew and Peter were introduced to Jesus and spent a day listening and talking to Him (John 1:35–42). Then they heard Him preach. They even saw that Jesus knew a whole lot more about fishing than they did (Luke 5:1–11). And they began to be convicted of their sins. Soon after that, Jesus approached them and said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” At that point, they were ready to drop everything and follow Jesus (Matthew 4:18–20).
No, they didn’t blindly follow Jesus. They had seen and heard enough to believe He was the Man. If you take the time to get to know Jesus through His Word, you will want to follow Him too. If you do, your life will never be the same!
