Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Before we move on from the calls of Peter, Andrew, James, and John in Mark 1:16-20, there are two thoughts that I want to briefly consider. First, we should note that Jesus promises, “I will make you to become fishers of men” (verse 17b). This specific promise to Peter and Andrew reveals what Jesus does with every believer. The raw material that He selects is indeed raw. Prior to conversion, none of us have any experience in being Christians. Jeremiah 18:1-6 records the parable of the potter and the clay. The key teaching is summarized in verse 6b: “Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are ye in Mine hand.” Paul makes the same point in Romans 9:21a: “Hath not the potter power over the clay?” It is immensely comforting to know that our Savior God will continue to remake us into His image and will include us in His good work. Second, I am reminded of that traditional part of the usual fishing story – the one that got away. That bit of humor becomes deadly serious when we apply it to salvation. Jesus is casting His net of eternal life today; “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2c-d). Do not be the one that got away.