As Jesus was walking along the shore of Lake Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew. They were fishermen and were casting their nets into the lake. Jesus said to them, “Come with me! I will teach you how to bring in people instead of fish.” Right then the two brothers dropped their nets and went with him. Jesus walked on and soon saw James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in a boat, mending their nets. At once Jesus asked them to come with him. They left their father in the boat with the hired workers and went with him. Mark 1

Getting on with our lives

Jesus spent most of his life and ministry in the same small area, travelling up and down the same roads, from Galilee to Jerusalem. The creator of the universe, walked dusty roads, visited small fishing villages, used the ordinary things of life, seeds, farming, fields, to explain mysteries ‘hidden from the beginning of time’ His audience – anyone.

I love this story of Jesus walking up to Peter and Andrew, busy with their nets, and saying ‘Come with me’. We can all summon up a picture of these fishermen, busy, getting on with their lives. And Jesus interrupts, calls, invites with ‘Come’. It is not like they never fished again, but they were never the same again. See the end of the gospels, Jesus has died, been seen, no one really knows what is going on and Peter says, ‘I’m going fishing’ and he encounters the glorious risen Lord, cooking fish on the beach. In his confusion and loss he returned to what he knew, fishing, and there God met him.

Kirsty Hook