When Jesus, by the Sea of Galilee, called his first disciples to “follow him,” Scripture records very dramatic responses.   Look at when Jesus called Peter and Andrew.

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. (Matthew 4:19-20)

Strolling a little farther down the beach Jesus proceeds to call James and John.

And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:21-22)

Do you see a pattern here?  When Jesus calls them, they “Immediately…left their nets.”  Without hesitation, all four men dropped their nets.  More practically, they dropped their livelihood and followed Jesus.  In the case of James and John, they not only left their jobs, they also left their father Zebedee “in the boat.”

They not only reprioritized their careers, they reprioritized their families.  Simply put, when these men understood Jesus was their Messiah calling them to himself and this new mission they gave their whole hearts.  The language of Scripture literally says, they “abruptly” dropped their nets.  They did not consult friends or family or follow Jesus on a trial basis.  No probation period.  They simply followed.

By the way, this account portrays Jesus walking up to these men with an air of spontaneity.  Without forethought.  These fishermen, in like fashion, spontaneously dropped their nets.  This is how it should go when we call people to Jesus.  We should not be surprised when God places the right people are in our path, ready to drop everything when we tell them about Jesus.  Following Jesus is truly a work from God where he changes someone from the inside out.  So from our perspective, when people “spontaneously” respond to him God is already at work behind the scenes.

“Fishing for men” is such a perfect picture of evangelism.  Calling people to follow Jesus is as simple as casting a net out on the water.  Peter and Andrew were using a unique method of fishing.  Their “net” was specifically designed as a circular one.  Fishermen would sometimes cast a wide circular swath of netting with weights sewn into its parameter.  A net like this would land on the face of the water as a circle and descend to the dark to the floor capturing fish to be scooped back to the surface.  We cast out our gospel net to draw hurting people up from the dark abyss of sin to the surface for life eternal!    

While in college, I was a beach lifeguard at top of the outer banks on the border between Virginia and North Carolina.  A place called, Sandbridge Beach. I started when I was 16 and was now 19.  Before the start of each day, we had a lifeguard meeting which concluded with the crew chief saying, “In 17 years we have never had a drowning, let’s not have one today!”

It was a yellow flag day meaning you literally stand all day and wait to make a rescue.  Three stands down from me stood the running back for the Maryland Terrapins.  He was fast on land and slow in the water. In front of his stand, a family had drifted out into a rip tide.  The father was farthest out.  I could hear over the radio the head lifeguard frantically calling for this guard to go.  He had hesitated – he ran fast but swam slow.

One stroke before he reached the father, he went under.  The riptide submerged him like quicksand and dragged him to his death along the ocean’s floor.  He resurfaced a mile down the beach, lifeless and filled with 70 lbs of water.  Thirty years later, I still have conversations with the head lifeguard over what happened that day.  The problem was not with the lifeguard’s swim speed, the problem was with his hesitation!

When Jesus calls you, you drop your nets.  Likewise, people drowning need rescue.  Do not hesitate to cast your net and fish them out of sin’s abyss.