MONDAY - 30TH OCTOBER, 2023
MORNING WINGS DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE - Olusola ADEJUMO
HE EVEN CALLS TODAY - What Is Purpose Series 007?
Mark 1:16-18, KJV
"16 Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. 17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.18 And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him".
Yesterday, we saw how God called Matthew the revenue collector away from the revenue office into ministry. God do call professionals. It doesn't matter what they do or who they are. He doesn't discriminate. Rather, He uses men from all walks of life. He has intention for all men. However, something else could keep them busy until the calling that has predated them is revealed.
In today's reading, Jesus called some pairs of people. He first called Simon, also known as Peter and Andrew his brother. Later, He calls James and John. The Bible records that these four are fishers. These are professionals whose lives till then have been built on how much they can catch and how much they can sell. They have gained mastery of the water and nothing frets them of that practice. However, Jesus calls them. He told them to follow Him and then issues out a promise of who they'll be on that journey.
"Follow me and I'll make you fishers of men".
God has an intent for coming to collect anybody He marks for use. Before He came, you were busy doing something. For Simon and Andrew, they were busy casting a net into the sea. They were really occupied. These are no idle hands at all. So, it won't be such people that'll be harvested into nothingness. They must be put to work and led the brighter path that awaits them. Indeed, the destiny that awaits them far outweighs the one they've been labouring in for years. There's a big difference between been a fisher of fishes and being a fisher of men. It is damnable for any man to lose his soul (Matt.16:26). The most precious of all God's creatures is the man (Psalm 8:4-9). God is very mindful of him. That's why the Son came into the world to die for his sins (John 3:16). As such, this is a call away into a better pursuit - of harvesting the most precious of God's creatures.
You may be there, like these two brothers - occupied with casting your net into the sea. But, what if the Master has need of you? Will the testimony over you be, they left their net right away and followed Him? I hope so. Don't miss this call. It's what others look for but which has not been extended to them. No man takes the honour of being called unto Himself.
Hebrews 5:4, KJV
"And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron".
The other called people that we shall examine today are some other two brothers as well.
Mark 1:19-20, KJV
"19 And when he had gone a little farther thence, he saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets. 20 And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him".
This one is even more graphic. When Jesus called this two, they were with their father in the ship mending their nets. These two immediately at being called like the first also left their nets, the hired servants and then their father. That's a bigger sacrifice in obeying the call.
However, it should interest that God doesn't call people into nothingness. God speaks to us when He makes Abraham our example and tells us to look at him that we might derive one comfort or the other from him when called.
Isaiah 51:1-2, KJV
"1Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. 2 Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him".
This is the beauty that awaits you. If these brethren had tarried in their fishing business, they would have done so until they died. Their lives and works wouldn't have continued to echo after them. However, the calling magnifies a man. It makes him larger and bigger than who he is naturally. It not only gives him purpose to focus and fund but also gives him reward here on earth and thereafter.
Are you there and you're thinking it's not your kind that God calls? If you've been developing burden for ministry and God's things, it might be that God is speaking to you. If you've tarried long in a godly atmosphere, your calling to ministry and its things might pop up from there also. What matters is to give obedience once we ascertain it is the Lord who calls us. Till Jesus comes for these brothers, none of them went away. That's because there's a voice that you must hear that's not like any other voice. If you're destined and called into a vocation or way of life, by the time the relatedness of that call comes, you'll notably identify it. It is always, "my sheep hear my voice and they follow me" (John 10:27). I pray for you that you'll be rightly situated in your calling. Any sort of labour at which you have tarried till now that you should be collected from for your greater good and the doing of God's pleasure shall not go in vain. I pray that you shall be harvested and that early. I pray that you won't block your ears to the call. Many are called but few are always chosen. That's not because God didn't have plans for others. He does but He has left every man to make choice of whether to follow or not. You won't miss your batch. Simon, Andrew, James and John are all a batch called into their calling. May you not miss your batch. The regret of many that miss their batches and their call is to see those with whom they were called at the same time later in their greatness and sigh in heavy regret that they wished they had followed also. May you follow and that immediately. May you have counted the cost before the eventual arrival of your Saviour and Creator calling you away into the very and proper ground you should till. That way, you'll be like a man who's been weaned and who has nothing to lose. It'll be as soon as you hear Him, you obey Him. You won't have to troubleshoot the call because it's actually what you've been waiting for. It's appearance would only be your confirmation.
PRAYER: Lord, I shall not grieve your call. I receive grace to follow and be made.
BIBLE IN A YEAR: Lamentations 1:1-2:22; Philemon 1:1-25; Psalm 101:1-8; Proverbs 26:20
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