Dropping My "Net"

One of my memory verses for this week was 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.

The memory verse is from the Topical Memory System on witnessing and actually only includes Matthew 4:19, but included Matthew 4:20 on the card as well.Of course the original intent of this message was on witnessing and "fishing for men."  However, while I meditated on it I was more struck by the aspects of following Jesus, so the beginning of verse 19 and then verse 20 stuck out the most to me.

This story had always been one that amazed me. Jesus one day was just walking by the Sea of Galilee and saw some fisherman and told them to follow him. Myself, being a fisher, wouldn't have enjoyed someone yelling at me while I was fishing, let alone telling me to follow him. I honestly would have thought they were crazy and would not have appreciated him scaring away my fish. Jesus doesn't get this response though. It says "At once they left their nets and followed him" not, "after careful thought and collaboration they decided it would be okay to try things out and follow him just for the sake of it."

A little while later he calls to another group of fishermen. They were two brothers whose father was a fisherman as well. Fishing was their life. It was all they had ever known. It was their security, their livelihood, their comfort zone. Jesus calls them as well, even while they are there with their father. In verse 22 it says "Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him."

Yet again Jesus, a seemingly random stranger, was chosen above their own means of livelihood and well-being. Obviously they were able to see that Jesus could offer them that and much more just in the short time they saw him. Why else would they give up everything, literally everything, they had and had ever known. Not only did they give it up, they traded it for something they didn't know. Yet they did it "at once" or "immediately."

I just wish I would have had the kind of faith the first disciples did. Often times I find it difficult to give up the "net" in my life, the things I need to make a living or the things that I'm comfortable with. The disciples had that ability to rely on Jesus as their livelihood and know that a life completely devoted to following Him would give them what they needed to survive. Instead I find myself clinging to my net. I don't want to give up the assurance of a career in business or my passion for horses. I haven't just dropped them, forgot about them, and followed Jesus.

Instead, I've said "okay Jesus, I want to follow you, but only if I can bring my net too." And I've found myself dragging it behind me the whole time. I haven't gained much from it. The trip would be much easier if I didn't worry so much about bringing this net on my journey. However, my lack of faith in Jesus providing and my own selfish desires have caused me to bring that dang net with me on my trek.

Jesus keeps telling me that the journey will be easier if I would leave it. I could follow closer to him if it wasn't there slowing me down. I'm not saying that Jesus wants me to completely give up on college and stop doing anything with horses. Of course not! It's in my heart. He wants me to be willing to put Him above these things, and to give them up when I am called. But until I have dropped the net in my heart, I won't be able to drop it in real life.

Here this last year God has really been helping me to drop the net in my heart. He has shown me that He will provide and I don't have to be anxious about how I will earn a living. He's shown me that horses aren't what is going to completely satisfy me. For these two needs, He is the only ultimate source of assurance.

I'm finally to the point where I would be willing to drop my net and follow Jesus. Are you?

Why God, Horses, and Business?

It may seem like an odd mix of topics. Probably because it is. However, in my life these are all interrelated. In fact, these three areas pretty much sum up the majority of my life. These are the areas that I have interest in and am actively pursuing for my future.

Every day I try to grow closer to God and learn more about Him. That's the biggest chunk of my life. Next is horses. Horses have been my passion and a desire of my heart since I was two, and the exact moment is even caught on home video as I ride the pony rides visiting my town. Finally, business. This isn't an area I'm in love with like the other two, but it's where God has given me talents and where my career will leave me.

Now how are all of these related? God and horses have gone together in my mind since my early childhood. I'd always pray for a horse and ask God to give me one so I could go and spread the word about Him. Of course at that age I really just wanted a horse and had to justify my prayer request somehow. As time went on my faith was tested when my prayer request was never answered, but the correlation between God and horses grew stronger. The driving reason behind this was none other than the horse program at Hidden Acres Christian Center. It really showed me how to use horses to glorify God and that's what my focus became. Right away I constructed devotionals relating horses to God and created a list of God-glorifying names for my horse when I got one. To make a long story short, God did bless me with a horse in His own time and I renamed him with a "Christian" name.

I had always expected myself to pursue a career in horses. I took business classes just as fillers in my schedule and even said "I swear I will never be an accountant." BUT God delights in irony, and through a series of events over a period of time I found myself almost completely ditching my career plans in the horse world in exchange for the exciting career of accounting. The thread of horses left in my education plans comes from my agribusiness degree. I've always wanted to start my own horse-related business as well, but yet again God's plan has been trumping my own.

The correlation between business and God is still lacking. One reason why I'm not fond of the business world is because its seeming distance from God. A good friend of mine once asked me, "So what are you going to do for God with an Accounting degree?" I can honestly say I couldn't answer that question. It was an issue that was on my heart for a long time until God showed me how I could relate business to Himself. The first way He showed me was to use the talents He gave me to benefit a non-profit ministry that furthers His kingdom. I was so excited when I made this discovery! For once I knew why I was randomly skilled at accounting. Secondly, and more recently, He showed me the need for Him to be present in the business world. That's why business is a topic of discussion in my blog, because God wants to be an active participant in that world, not just an observer.

These are the topics that I spend most of my time thinking on. They're what compose who I am on the deeper levels. And most of all, they are the areas where I am best equipped to share what God is doing in my life and what He has put in my life. As random as they may be, there is a greater purpose behind it all. I hope you enjoy reading my thoughts about God, Horses, and Business, and feel free to comment with your own!