Article February 21, 1994 Issue

About nets

As was true of the disciples, whether we leave our nets or cast them on the right side, our consecration to good enriches our lives.

Sandra M. Justad

When Christ Jesus invited people to discipleship, he was pretty direct. Matthew's Gospel tells us he approached Peter and Andrew, two brothers who earned a living by fishing, and said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (4:18–22). Father down the shore, he spoke to James and John. All dropped what they were doing and followed the Master. Jesus called Matthew the tax collector, with a similar invitation, and the book of Matthew records, "He arose, and followed him" (9:9). As John reports it, Jesus asked Philip, too, to "Follow me" (see John 1:43).

Some Bible scholars point out that these men probably were not strangers to Jesus. And Andrew had earlier been a disciple of John the Baptist. So when Jesus said, "Follow me," they were ready.

The fishermen were to learn a new kind of fishing. They were already skilled with their nets on the lake. They knew when and where to drop them, how to haul them in, how to care for them. They worked hard at what they loved. Now they would learn how to broaden their love by working for God, divine Love. They were being prepared to give their hearts and lives wholly to Christ, the true idea of God.

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