Jesus Calls His First Disciples {Luke 5:1-11}

One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.

4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”

5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”

6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.”11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

I love how quick Jesus was to say, “don’t be afraid.”

It’s okay. It’s all good. Peter had no reason to be afraid for doubting, for messing up, for thinking he knew better. Not only did Jesus refuse to leave him to wallow in his failure and sin as he asked, He did the opposite. He invited him to get up and follow Him.

Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? {Romans 2:4, NLT}

I have known for a long time it’s His kindness that leads us to repentance, but if I’m going to be honest with you here, I had no idea how to translate that to real life.

A kind word turns away wrath, yes.

Do good to those who persecute you. Incredibly difficult, but I understand.

But with God as our Father, how does that play out in parenting? When my kids majorly screw up, the last thing I want to say to them is “don't be afraid.” Maybe "afraid" isn't the right word, but I want life to be uncomfortable enough that they will think twice before making that decision again. 

I’m quick with thoughts of well, if only you had listened, this wouldn’t have happened, and, that's exactly why I told you not to do that. Depending on how riled up I am by the blatant disrespect, screaming, and disobedience, well, I might just have to restrain myself from screaming right back at them. Other days I fail miserably at the restraint part.

I often think, why don’t they get it yet? Why are we still fighting these same battles day after day after day?

One day as we were pulling out of the driveway and I had tell the boys in the backseat to buckle up yet again, it occured to me that this was a conversation I've had with them daily for years. I wondered in that moment exactly how many times I’d uttered the phrase “put your seatbelts on.”

Let's assume we put the oldest in a booster seat at age four. He’s now two months shy of 10. Let’s assume also, as he was in preschool at the time, that on average, we left the house once a day, which would involve buckling up twice. I’m sure there were days we stayed home, but there were also days we went multiple places, so it’s probably an incredibly low estimate. Let’s assume, just for fun, I had to remind the children to buckle up each time.

With the oldest being 9 years old, it’s a total of at least 3,650 times.

3,650 times I have instructed them to put their seatbelts on, and they still haven’t "gotten it." 

Let that sink in for a moment. I have told them thousands of times to perform the this task, the same task they need to perform each and every time we enter the vehicle (it’s not like it’s an oddity), and it still has not become habit.

And honestly, sometimes when I look in the rear view mirror and see them positioned in such a way that would make it impossible to indeed be belted, and I have to again utter the phrase "buckle up," my hands tighten their grip on the steering wheel and my jaw clenches as I listen for the clicks from the back seat. 

I think to myself...why do I always have to tell them this? Why don’t they get it by now? It’s not that hard. Get in the car, sit down, and put on your seatbelt. Agent Oso would have boiled it down to those "three special steps" and the child would've mastered it by the end of the 20 minute show! Why must I always remind them?

Every time we get in the car, I pull out of the driveway with a small, subconscious glimmer of hope, thinking maybe, just maybe, today will be the day. Maybe today they will remember to buckle up on their own. 

But you don’t see that at all in Jesus.

And I realized that my perspective as a parent has been... wrong.

You see, while Jesus is aiming for the perfection of eternity, He also fully expects their humanity. He makes room for their doubt, their failures. He makes room for their imperfections and sin, allowing them to learn from their mistakes with an air of patience and grace I often don't possess as a parent. 

With Jesus, it's not about all the times you got it wrong. It's about the one time you got it right.

Expectations pave the way for either contentment or disappointment, so it's vital we set them accordingly. Because the reality is, there will be some things that, on this side of heaven, the kids will never master, even as adults. But it doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying or we shouldn't keep training them: we just need to allow for their humanity with a God-given patience and grace. Lord knows I can't do it on my own...

It's a welcome paradigm shift:

Harping on failures  > > > > > >  Celebrating victories

Condemnation  > > > > > >  Grace

Anticipating achievement  > > > > > >  Anticipating repeated need for instruction

Frustration  > > > > > >  Patience

Expecting mastery/perfection  > > > > > >  Expecting sin/humanity

Jesus isn't surprised or caught off guard by our humanity. He fully expects it. He tells us not to be afraid, because He sees the struggles that war within. In His kindness and grace, He knows that the only way to overcome our sin is to stand up and follow Him. To allow Him to fill the spaces in which we are weak.

It's not about all the times we messed up.

With Jesus, it's about the one time we got up and chose to walk with Him in humility. 

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This post is part of a series I’m writing for the month of October called, Walking in Humility: Learning to Abide with God in the Everyday. If you’re interested in the reading the rest of the series, you can find it here. Enjoy!