Left in the Boat

I am back reading the Gospel of Mark right now. It was time to return to the Gospels and be reminded of who Jesus is and what it looks like to follow Him. This week I was journaling through Jesus’ call of the first disciples.

“One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called out to them, ‘Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!’ And they left their nets at once and followed him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee’s sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.” (Mark 1:16-20)

Because of this season, the part that stood out to me was that James and John followed Jesus immediately, leaving their father in the boat. James and John lived out what Jesus said was required to be a disciple in Luke 14:26, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one's own self! —can't be my disciple.”

I am not entirely comfortable with this teaching. My first thought when I read that James and John left their father in the boat was, “How soon afterward did they see him?” They were still in the same village at least for several days. While following Jesus around, they were often back in the same area. Did James and John go home to visit their father? It had to be easier to do what they did than to be living on the other side of the world. At least I like to think it was easier. I know following Jesus is never easy (Luke 14:27).

I know my call is first to Jesus. I know everything and everyone else comes after. Sometimes the call to follow Jesus means leaving my father (or mother) in the boat. Other times that call means being in my home with my family while Jesus brings healing (Mark 1:29-31). So every day I am learning to follow Jesus, whether that is toward my family or far away from them.