By the shoreline...

I was sitting in church a little while back listening to a message about Jesus. Not too surprising that they would be talking about Jesus, huh? But it was about Jesus. Him. His life. Walking around Palestine in the early first century. Him. The Person. The human. I felt like I was watching a biography of a man. As I listened to the message, I imagined myself in the scenes. I could see the sea of Galilee. I saw the fisherman and their nets coming back from a catch. I imagined the people following closely trying to hear what Jesus was saying. I have my own picture of what Jesus may have looked liked. It's different for all of us, but for me I have this image of a tall, lean, dark haired man which is probably an amalgam of all the movie star Jesus' I have seen in my life. But unlike the movies, this Jesus is unusually approachable. Touchable. That in his very eyes you can tell He's genuinely glad to see you. Like an old friend that no matter how much time has gone by, you pick up right where you left off. I like this Jesus I see as I listen.

The pastor goes on to retell a story of Jesus calling Peter as a follower. That something in that call was so compelling, Peter left everything to follow him. Maybe it also was something in Peter's past or present that contributed to that act of utter abandonment. Maybe fishing just wasn't doing it for Peter. Oh, it made a living. Got him out on the sea waters everyday. Fishing made him strong and gave him his place in the world he lived in. It was a fine life. Until....

Until another option was presented before him and his eyes were open to another life. Another calling. Another adventure. And Peter would never be able to go back to his old worldview. There. Now. There IS something more. There CAN be more. And it was all wrapped up in the voice of this strange man from Nazareth. Follow Me, Jesus says.

As I listened to the speaker, my eyes filled with tears. Tears from a place that had not fallen for such a long time. For now I was standing on the shore. And Jesus was looking at me and calling me to follow Him... again. I came to a decision about Jesus when I was 13. I began to follow Jesus. My life and how I saw life and people and relationships and my purpose were never the same. I began an adventure of knowing that as I walked with Jesus, in places He would go, I was walking a different path than what my limited vision could imagine before. All of a sudden, my conversations and decisions and how I treated people and how I spent my time diverted unto a new path.

For almost 30 years I have walked this path. Stumbling at times. Struggling with the direction the path went. At times feeling utterly alone in it. But also experiencing the highest of mountain tops that it was hard to imagine anything better. Being on the front lines of seeing eternal life change and knowing that God loved me so much that He gave me a small part in it.

And after all those years, when it would be easy to fall into a "I've got this down" attitude about walking with Jesus...when some would sum up the mystery of this adventure in 10 easy steps... I sat amazed again at the truth as I stood there on the shoreline. Not feeling like I had many impressive things to bring to the table, Jesus was looking at me and asking me again.. follow Me. I am amazed at the power in His words. I am comforted by the gentleness with which He says them. I am filled by the love through which they are communicated. And I feel the choseness which I am being invited into.

Follow Me, He says. I'm not going to tell you where we are headed all the time.

Follow Me. I'm not going to promise you that it will be painless or you will leave unscathed.

Follow Me. I will not promise you popularity or world influence or position or power.

Follow Me. I will lead. I will walk with you. I am here. I choose you.

Follow Me.


And today, again, I drop my nets and follow. Thanks, Jesus.