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\u201cAs Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee,\xa0he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter\xa0and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen.\xa0\xa0\u201cCome, follow me,\u201d\xa0Jesus said,\xa0\u201cand I will send you out to fish for people.\u201d\xa0\xa0At once they left their nets and followed him.\u201d (Matt 4:18-20)

Discipleship. First of all, what is it? Mirriam-Webster says that a disciple is \u201cone who accepts and assists in spreading the doctrines of another.\u201d\xa0 Discipleship is so much more than simply accepting and helping to spread information about Jesus to others.\xa0 There\u2019s a distinct difference between \u201cinformational discipleship\u201d and \u201ctransformational discipleship.\u201d\xa0 The former is about head knowledge and the latter is about heart knowledge.

Our society today is all about the quick fix, the instant knowledge we can get from google, the instant gratification we crave and often give into with our buying habits, text messages that need to be answered and social media use.\xa0 In a passage like today\u2019s, we read that Peter and Andrew dropped their nets when Jesus said \u2018come\u2019 and they followed Him.\xa0 And so, it seems like an easy extension to believe that many of the first disciples dropped everything and simply followed Jesus with no question on their lips or doubt in their hearts.\xa0 As we will see in the next few weeks though, the call to follow Jesus isn\u2019t exactly that simple.\xa0

Jesus teaches us and sinks His truth into us whether we are willing participants or not.\xa0 I wonder though what Peter and Andrew were thinking when Jesus said to them \u201cI will send you out to fish for people\u201d?\xa0 Did a surge of excitement run through their veins?\xa0 Or anticipation?\xa0 Or fear?\xa0 Did they consider their friends, their livelihood, their families before following after Jesus?\xa0 What was going through their heads?\xa0 And moreover, what was happening in their hearts?

The call to follow Jesus is rarely a straight line.\xa0 It\u2019s often filled with curves in the road, zig zags, retracing our steps and even well trodden paths through the same forest and around the same mountain until we finally get the picture that the Holy Spirit has been trying to reveal to us.\xa0 The call to discipleship is different for each one of us.\xa0 But for every disciple of Christ there is an element of trust in God, His ways, and His timing.\xa0 There is also an element of transformation as we abide more with Christ and less with the things of this world.\xa0 And there is action that is needed.\xa0 God calls us and asks us to trust Him.

Here is part of the more detailed account of the call of Peter and Andrew found in Luke 5, \u201cWhen [Jesus] had finished speaking, he said to Simon,\xa0\u201cPut out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, \u201cMaster,\xa0we\u2019ve worked hard all night and haven\u2019t caught anything.\xa0But because you say so, I will let down the nets.\u201d (v.4-5).\xa0 Did Peter (called Simon here) have any reason to listen to Jesus or to believe that there might be a possibility that they would catch any fish that day?\xa0 Nope.\xa0 Yet he put down his nets anyway.\xa0 And the resulting catch filled their nets so full that when they called their partners over to help load up the catch both boats began to sink!\xa0

Their trust seemed unfounded, yet they trusted anyway and took action according to their faith.

Trust in God is the beginning of discipleship.\xa0 Not knowing where Jesus is leading, but following Him anyway, and trusting that He will do what is good and right in our lives.\xa0 That He will protect us and provide for us abundantly.\xa0 Because we trust that Jesus is who He says He is.\xa0 The One that we will always be able to rely on.\xa0