Did the reactions of the early disciples intrigue you? Peter, Andrew, James, John were fishermen. They spent their entire lifetime learning the trade of fishing, building a business that would have required personal and economic investment. On top of all that, this was a family business. They would have felt the pressure from their fathers to maintain and prolong the business. Pride and self-fulfillment certainly would have part of their motivation to be among the best of the Galilean fishing industry. But then Jesus comes into the picture…this is where the “intrigue” starts. They give it all up to follow Him.

they were fishermen. 19 And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. (Matthew 4:18-22)

Such an immediate and life-changing decision causes our intrigue. There is a lesson here for all of us…namely, Jesus is calling us to have a personal, daily, devoted relationship with Him. Casting pride and self-fulfillment aside.
    • These men saw the need to be personally acquainted with Jesus as the highest priority…so we are also called.
    • These men could have continued in their professions as good Jewish men, but there was something more…something religion and material success could not provide…true of us too.
    • These men needed what Jesus had to offer and they followed Him, trusted Him, loved Him, and became His servants...and they never looked back.

Is there a lesson in this? “My Utmost for His Highest” addresses the root of this “intrigue:”

“God's purpose is to make us one with him: “That they may be one as we are one” (John 17:22). What matters to God isn't your consistency to an idea of what makes a perfect Christian. What matters is your real, vital relationship with Jesus Christ and your abandonment to Him.

Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human achievement. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God, a relationship that shows itself in all the irrelevancies of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the seeming irrelevancy of the things he asks you to do. The next is the fact that some people appear to be leading perfectly consistent lives. Such lives might give you the idea that God is unnecessary, that all we need to reach the standard he wants is human effort and devotion. In a fallen world, this can never be true.

I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life will produce a longing for God in other lives, not so that others will admire me. Thoughts about myself will always hinder my usefulness to God. God isn't perfecting me in order to put me on display; he's getting me to the place where he can use me. I must let him have his way.

“Oneness” with Christ is the issue. It helps us understand the “intrigue” of the Christian life. The Christian life is not a series of hoops to jump through, rather, it is a life lived out in constant, trusting, loving relationship with Jesus Christ. It's through that relationship that life's priorities, goals, behaviors become Christ-like. It's that relationship that causes the “intrigue” as unbelievers observe the difference in your life. My prayer for you and me this day is this: Lord, increase the “intrigue” in our lives. Help us to walk more and more closely with You and let You direct our paths. Increase our faith. Amen.

Walk with the King today and be a blessing.