Damn. This part of Matthew GETS. ME. HYPED.
I gave a talk years and years and years ago all about Metanoia (v fancy Greek for “change of heart”) and this was featured prominently. Why? Because there are two baller instances of immediate YYYAAASSS to Jesus.
First: Peter (spoiler: he holds the keys 🔑 to heaven, so it’s kind of working out for him) and his brother are on their boat, doing the thing they do that makes them enough money so they can live day to day. They’re not wealthy, they’re barely getting by, and fishing is all they know how to do. They see Jesus. He says some crazy stuff. All at once they realize this is the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE and they abandon their nets, walk away from their lives, and set off with the Christ. BANG BANG!
What’s your net?
What’s one thing holding you back from being authentically loved by Jesus?
Second: Jesus calls out to James and John. We don’t have the privilege of knowing the exact dialogue here, but I can bet it’s just as radical and slightly suspect as what he says to Peter and Andrew. They’re mending their nets -- this means, they don’t have enough money to quit for today, even though their equipment did. They need to go back to work. Out of respect to their family, and especially the authority of their father, they need to get back on that boat as asap as possible and get to reelin’ in some porky fishies.
But (WHOA!) They don’t. Their encounter with Jesus changes their hearts. Jesus will provide.
Can you imagine how it might have ended differently? What they never looked up from mending their nets? What if they had let a molehill keep them from the mountain of the Kingdom?
Being overly ambitious in my desire to control my eating -- punish myself, reward myself, and be the totalitarian fixer of my own life -- was a molehill of mine for a very long time. It was all consuming and a symptom of a greater brokenness that kept me eyes down, fixated on a small, inward solution. What I needed was a much larger solution built on the perfect love of Christ Jesus.
Eating disorder recovery is not a battle we can win by ourselves.
Eating disorder recovery is not a battle we can win by ourselves. Let Jesus at the helm. He’ll mend your net and bring you more than you ever imagined.
What are you mending that only Christ and mend for you?