Thursday, 20 March 2008

• Thoughts on Christ and the gospel

  I was struck by something I read this morning, from Luke 5:1-11.  It was the day that Jesus told Peter, James and John to let down their nets, even though they caught nothing all night.  But they did what Jesus said, and they had their biggest catch ever as fisherman.  They caught so many fish that their nets were breaking.  They filled their boats with so many fish that their boats were sinking.  This was the biggest catch of fish that they had ever even heard of.  It was their big pay-day.  When they brought all the fish to shore, they should have been seeing dollar signs (or shekel signs) in their heads, thinking about how rich they just got!
  

  But what do they do?  Verse 11 says, "And when they had brought their boats to land, they left everything and followed Him."  They left everything.  Not only the great catch of fish (which would have netted a whole lot of money), but even the tools for their livelihood (their boats and their nets).  Were they crazy?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  In Jesus they found someone more valuable than all the fish in the world, even more valuable than everything they possessed or owned in this world.  In order to own and follow Jesus, they gladly left everything.  In their eyes, it would have been crazy to stay with the fish and not follow Jesus.  They chose the better portion.  They chose Jesus over dead fish and smelly boats.  At the end of the day, the very best that this world has to offer us for our treasure is "dead fish and smelly boats."
  

  Is Jesus that precious and valuable to you?  Is He to me?  Is Jesus so valuable that everything else is like rubbish compared to Him?  Yes, He is.  It is my prayer that Jesus will be that precious to my own soul, that I would seek my true joy, my true satisfaction, and my true delight in Him- and in no one and nothing else.  I pray that- not to sound pious, but to be truly happy and satisfied.  I agree with John Piper, that Jesus is most glorified when we are the most satisfied with Him, when we gladly leave everything in order to gain and follow Him.

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