Last week, I mentioned a story in Luke 5:1-11. At the end of the story, Jesus tells two sets of brothers: (1) Peter and Andrew and (2) John and James to leave everything and follow Him. Crazy, right? Peter and Andrew had just caught a huge amount of fish, which was worth a lot, but we'll never know where that money went. I guess we can ask these guys when we get to heaven, but I digress.
So, the men have caught a huge break in their careers (courtesy of Jesus), and then He goes, "Drop everything and follow me!" Wow! Big ask, right? Some of us are like, "Bad timing, Jesus; bad timing! Their career is finally taking off!" But the Bible says, "And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus" (Luke 5:11).
What we see in this chapter is four men’s identities get crushed. Or did they? Ours would've been because we often define ourselves by what we do."I am a student. An engineer. A banker. The president’s firstborn. Dr. so-and-so’s child." But when all that's stripped away, what then? Do we shift the answer from "I am" to "I was" and just leave it there?
Because we place a lot of value on these external markers (titles, accolades, etc.), we steer clear of anything that may threaten "who we are." I’m putting quotes around ‘who we are’ to point out something: If our identities can crumble that easily, it's time to seriously question what we base them on.
When there's no stability in who you are, you become everything without being anything. Think about it! One day you're A, then it's threatened, so you jump to B. But B is fleeting, so you try C, which doesn’t quite fit, so now you're trying D, and the cycle repeats. So again, who are you? And has it stopped you from pursuing God in fear of losing yourself?
Some people fear pursuing God because they think when He calls them, they may have to leave everything they have ever wanted or worked so hard for. They think they’ll become nobodies. I mean the audacity to even think like that! Who do they think this God is? What a lowly view of God one must have! Well, let me tell you about my God. He:
Made the earth by His power, and He preserves it by His wisdom (Jeremiah 10)
When the waters saw Him, they were afraid and parted (Psalm 77)
His is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is His (1 Chronicles 29)
I mean, are we talking about this God? And you think that when you answer His call, you become a nobody?
Here's a secret: you find out who you are when you answer the call. The call I'm talking about is the invitation to take a seat at the Father's table. To come and be a son or daughter of the Most High God.
But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12).
That's a rock-solid identity! One not affected by people's evaluation of you or even your self-evaluation. It only matters what Who has the final say says, and here's what He says:
He calls us his children, and that is what we are (1 John 3:1)!
That's why the two sets of brothers easily left everything behind. They knew who they were, and it didn't depend on what they did or didn’t do. They were sons of God when they fished, and they were still sons when they left it all behind. They had a stable identity unlike what we hear/say today, "I used to be so sure about who I was. Now, I don’t know anymore. Or I'm an architect and without it, I don't know who I am." What a sad reality we live in!
No wonder we're ever anxious. Anything can destroy who we are in an instant, so we must guard against every potential threat. It isn't how we're meant to live. So, let it be today that you claim your seat at the Table if you haven't already!
Oh and by the way, the brothers could leave everything behind because it was still theirs even then. I mean, if the earth and everything in it are your Father's, and you are the heir, well, you do the math.
Comments