Today's Scripture Reading (June 20, 2024): 2 Peter 3
Luke tells
the story of the calling of the first disciples. Jesus was teaching, and the
crowd gathered around him. Not far from him was a man named Simon, who fished
for a living. Simon was cleaning his nets when Jesus asked him if he could
preach to the crowd standing in Simon's boat. Simon set down the job of
cleaning the nets so that he could do as Jesus had asked.
After Jesus
had finished preaching, he looked at Simon and told the expert fisherman to go
out onto the lake and put his nets down into the water. And Simon looked at him;
I guarantee this was his thought process. "What a stupid pastor. Man, is
it a good thing that he is a great teacher because, as a fisherman, this guy
would starve. It isn't even the right time of day to go fishing."
But what he
said was, "Master, we have been fishing all night and haven't caught anything,
but because these are your instructions, we will go." Translation: we will
humor you.
And they went
out onto the lake and caught a lot of fish. And Simon's attitude changed. Here
stood one who he didn't understand. And Simon Peter's words were, "Go away
from me, for I am a sinful man." I am not sure who you are, Jesus, but I
know that I am not worthy to stand in your presence.
Jesus
responded: 'Don't be afraid, but come and follow me, and I will make you rich.'
No? I was sure I heard that on TV. Maybe it was, 'Come and follow me, and I
will give you a better job.' 'Come and follow me, and I will allow you to speak
in tongues?' 'Come and follow me, and I will ensure you are never single again?'
No. Jesus
said, "Come and follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Do
you want to know the mark of Christ on someone's life? They love Jesus and love
people so much that they are willing to get really uncomfortable so that their
friends have an opportunity to know Christ. They are eager to live their lives
for Christ in the middle of the neighborhood and invite others to follow him.
John Ortberg
tells a story about his childhood. He says his sister had a ragdoll, and she
loved it very much. In fact, she took it everywhere she went. The doll's name
was Pandy, and on one occasion, while the family was on vacation, Pandy got
left behind. Now, John is from the United States, but the family was on holiday
in a place called Canada. John says, "Mom, Dad, and the family drove back
to Canada for this ugly little ragdoll."
But as
happens with things of our childhood, eventually, his sister grew out of the
doll. By this time, it was more rag than doll. Mom gingerly took the doll,
lovingly wrapped it in paper, and stored it in the attic.
John says his
sister gave up Pandy for Andy (who was uglier than Pandy) and Andy for the one she
would marry. She moved to California and there she had a child, a little girl.
Mom
remembered this tattered little Rag Doll in the attic, went up to get it, and
then sent it to her daughter. And her daughter received it and sent it to a
Doll Hospital, because they have those in California, and they made Pandy
better than new.
That is what
God wants to do with us: make us better than new and prepare us for a new
heaven and earth. God loves you so much that he wants to be a transforming
presence in your life. He wants to make you new, just as he did for Simon Peter
and Pandy. And set you up for the task of telling people that they can be new,
too.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Hebrews
1
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