Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

May 29
Thursday


QUEST FOR
STOLEN
TREASURE

READ:
Matthew 4:18-22
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[Jesus] said to them
"Follow Me, and I will
make you fishers of
men." __Matthew 4:19
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In J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, the dwarfs gathered to go up against Smaug, the fierce dragon, to retrieve their stolen treasure. In spite of the dangerously frightening quest, Balin, the dwarfs' second-in-command, expressed confidence in Thorin: "There is one I could follow. There is one I could call King." His commitment to the mission, as dangerous as it was, was empowered by his confidence in his leader.

At the beginning of Jesus' earthly ministry, he gathered a group around Him that would join Him in the kingdom task of rescuing the treasure of lost souls from our enemy, Satan. When He called them, He said, "Follow Me" (Matt. 4:19). For them, following Jesus would mean a radical transition from catching fish to the enterprise of being fishers of men and women who were lost in the grip of sin. But the task would not always be easy; Jesus referred to the quest as taking up our cross to follow Him (see Matt. 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23).

How do we stay engaged in the battle to reclaim Christ's lost treasures when it seems intimidating or awkward? by keeping our eye on our Leader. He indeed is worthy__One we can follow, the One we call king! __Joe Stowell

````````````````````Lord, in the face of intimidation and fear when``````````````````````
```````````````````seeking to engage others with the gospel, remind`````````````````````
```````````````````me that they are Your lost treasures. I count it```````````````````````
``````````````````````a privilege to follow you into others' lives.`````````````````````````
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Follow your Leader into the lives of those around you.

**************************Today's Bible Reading __ Matthew 4:18-22****************************
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.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

These two pairs of brothers (Peter and Andrew, James and John)
were the earliest disciples to respond to Jesus' call. Most likely,
Peter, Andrew, and John had an earlier encounter with Jesus (John
1:35-42). In today's passage, the Lord is calling them to abandon
their fishing trade and to follow Him fully and permanently (Matt.
4:20,22). Later, Peter declared that they had left all to follow Jesus
(19:27). These four had been partners in the fishing business (Luke
5:10). Peter, James, and John were also privileged to become the
inner circle among Jesus' 12 disciples (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33).