Mark Photos - 1:16-20 - Catch

Mark 1:16-20 - Jesus Calls the First Disciples

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

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I’ve never been much of a fisherman. I enjoy fishing, but it was never THE thing that I would want to do on a weekend. If I was going to be outdoors, I’d prefer to be out hiking or simply laying back on a boat out on the water. So, these call stories of Jesus to the first disciples have always been a bit hard for me to relate to. For me, when I think of catching, I think of playing catch with the football, baseball, or frisbee in the backyard. The other night we were out weeding the garden and I noticed this whiffle ball that was just out there in the garden area. Not sure when it got there or how exactly it got there, but there it was. Its not going to be much use to play catch when its sitting out there in the garden rather than with the gloves or with the other sports stuff in the garage. I wonder about the “catching” I / we are doing in our lives? Are the nets that we are called to use really in use? Or are they sitting around, discarded, waiting to be picked up once again. Jesus called these disciples and they left their nets and followed him. But at some point they had to pick nets up once again both to fish for fish, but also pick up nets to fish for those that Jesus said they would draw in.