¹⁸ And Jesus, walking by the Sea of Galilee, saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. ¹⁹ Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” ²⁰ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
²¹ Going on from there, He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them, ²² and immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him.

―Matthew 4:18-22

Reading this passage reminded me of one of the most precious, peaceful, sacred, and meaningful days of my life.

The day occurred many years ago when Sonja and I were a part of a tour to Israel. On that particular day we were in Galilee and my day started with a stomach bug.

As a result, I decided to stay at the hotel while the rest of the group headed out for the activities of the day.

As the morning progressed I began to feel better and decided to venture out to have a look around.

Long story short, I spent several hours walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee (just like Jesus in this story).

What a joy!

One of the highlights of my life was skipping rocks on the Sea of Galilee and imaging Jesus doing the same. What a privilege to have walked where Jesus walked–literally!

But here’s the point: On the day that Jesus walked along the shore of Galilee did he go to specifically find Peter and Andrew and later James and John or did he notice them as he walked along the shore and thought to himself that they would make good disciples? 

The bible is not clear on this, but one thing is clear: You never know when you get up in the morning and carry on with your normal everyday duties of life when you may encounter the presence of God!

God is still walking in this earth. He’s never in a hurry and he walks in the most unusual places. And you never know when he will walk by where you are an extend an invitation to join him.

The ONE THING for today: Being a good “fisher of fish” and “mender of nets” is not bad. We all have necessary duties of life. But don’t forget that Interruptions are not always bad, they may be Jesus walking by to invite you to join him in something far more important. Those unsettling interruptions are often invitations to lay aside our nets to become “fishers of men.”