7 Minute Read + video

TODAY’S BIBLE READING:

Numbers 32:1–33:39
Luke 4:31–5:11
Psalm 64:1-10
Proverbs 11:22

TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Luke 5:11 (CSB): “Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.”

REFLECTIONS ON TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE(S):

Our Verse for today is powerful!

First, the context. A massive crowd was following Jesus so He got into Peter’s fishing boat and had him put it out a little from land. From His place in the boat, Jesus taught the crowds.

Then, after He finished teaching, Jesus told Peter to cast his nets in the water to catch some fish. Peter questioned Jesus’ judgment because they had been fishing all night and caught nothing. However, Peter would humor Jesus and cast in his nets anyway.

They caught a massive amount of fish! There were so many fish that Peter realized that Jesus was so much more than simply a mere man. Peter fell at Jesus’ feet, humbled by his own sinfulness, and asked Jesus to leave.

Peter’s humility was met with Jesus’ grace. Jesus wouldn’t leave Peter’s presence. Instead, Jesus invited Peter to join Him. If Peter did, Jesus would equip him to a grander calling – fishing for people.

That’s when Peter and the other disciples were left with a choice. Would they stay with the comfortable and familiar or would they leave everything and follow Jesus? They couldn’t do both.

Luke 5:11 (CSB): “Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.”

Friend, this is a thread that runs throughout Scripture. God isn’t content to only have a part of us. He isn’t content for us to delegate only a portion of our time to Him.

He wants all of us or nothing at all.

I will underline the portions of the following Scripture that point this out.

Deuteronomy 6:5 (CSB): “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”

Isaiah 29:13 (CSB): “The Lord said: These people approach me with their speeches to honor me with lip-service — yet their hearts are far from me, and human rules direct their worship of me.”

Matthew 16:24-25 (CSB): “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it.‘”

Luke 9:62 (CSB): “But Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’“

Hebrews 10:38-39 (CSB): “‘But my righteous one will live by faith; and if he draws back, I have no pleasure in him.’ But we are not those who draw back and are destroyed, but those who have faith and are saved.”

James 1:6-8 (CSB): “But let him ask in faith without doubting. For the doubter is like the surging sea, driven and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord, being double-minded and unstable in all his ways.“

2 Peter 2:20-22 (CSB): “For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them. It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, ‘A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.'”

Revelation 3:15-16 (CSB): “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of my mouth.”

Friend, when the disciples left everything to follow Jesus, they weren’t to be commended. This is what Jesus calls for. He wants all of our hearts. He wants every last bit of us.

While we desire to give Him everything, there will certainly be times when we falter. There will be times when we pull back – and must repent. There will be times when we discover an area of our life that is not yielded to Him – and we must make the adjustments.

But, the standard is clear. Jesus wants every last bit of you and me.

You may look around and see so many people who claim to be Christians not living this way. And, you may erroneously make the mistake of allowing them to be the standard for your life.

But, here are a few questions:

  • How do you know that they are a genuine follower of Jesus?
  • How do you know that when they breathe their last breath that they will lift their eyes to behold Jesus’ glory in Heaven?
  • What if they are living as half-hearted followers of Jesus … because they have never genuinely given their heart to Him?
  • What if they are “holding to the form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5) because they aren’t really saved?”

Matthew 7:22-23 (CSB): “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, drive out demons in your name, and do many miracles in your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me, you lawbreakers!'”

Friend, the only thing you can be absolutely certain of is God’s Word. It is the standard, not those who claim to be Christians (and may not be).

And the standard is clear – God wants all of us, not just a part of us.

I’m going to end this post with a video. It’s a song that Keith Green (1953-1982) sang many years ago. It’s a heavy hitting song in which he was calling people to realize that duplicity is abhorrent to Jesus. Keith wanted people to realize that Jesus wants every last bit of us.

I hope that we will take this basic, biblical principle to heart.

Luke 5:11 (CSB): “Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed him.”

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