New Beginnings

There's a new beginning for everything and everyone. We must all at one point, start something new. One stuck out to me the most. The disciples that Jesus chose. Before they witnessed his crucifixtion, before they had thier final meal with him, long before the multitudes came to hear him preach. There had to be a beginning. As I read in the Gospel of Luke chapter 5, I noticed something. Simon Peter,James and John witnessed Jesus speaking to the multitudes from thier boat then shortly afterwards,after catching no fish, Jesus suggests that they cast thier nets to the other side. After a doubtful remark from Peter thinking that they wont catch a thing,he obeys and lowers thier net. And then what, low and behold, they catch so much fish that they call for help and thier nets are breaking. All who were in the boat were astonished. They could not believe thier eyes, it was impossible, how could've that happened? Jesus performed a miracle that was impossible with man, and with God, all things are possible. James, John and Simon Peter could not doubt nor deny what just happend. Then Jesus said to them "Do not be afraid. From now on you will catch men" (v10). And then this is what blew me away, after they arrived on land, verse 11 says this "they forsook ALL and followed Him." (emphasis mine). The word forsook means "to leave behind". They left everything! Like everything! Think about that... We cant even leave our cell phones on the desk while we walk to the kitchen. They left EVERYTHING! One question comes to mind. Have we left everything to follow Jesus? We see him transform the hearts of many and we hesitate his ability to heal at times. The one guy who had the most hardened heart is now the guy who leads the prayer team. The girl who loved to sing secular lyrics in karaoke bars is now praising God on the stage on Sunday nights. For these gentlemen, this was the beginning of following Jesus. This was the beginning of seeing more miracles. This was the beginning of letting go of the things that didnt matter, and trusting in Him. Thats what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 says "What is faith? It is the confident assurance that what we hope for is going to happen. It is evidence of things we cannot yet see" (NLT). Lets begin to let everything go to follow Jesus. Let us trust in him for the questions and concerns that we have. Let us not lean on our own understanding, but lean on his word. Once we begin to do that, then we can have our new beginning.