Andrew - Matthew 4 :18 ,Mark 1:16 , John 1:15
The day I met you was the day my whole life was turned upside down
I had been following John for a while, going out to hear him preach and spending much of my free time in discussion with other of his followers about the coming Messiah and the extraordinary response of the people to John's teaching. I had been reminded again of the need to live a life worthy of being a descendent of Abraham. I had repented of my lazy, half-hearted worship of God and had been baptized in the Jordan. I was excited about everything that was going on and to be honest, I wasn't putting as much time into the family fishing business as I should have been. The day I met you I had had a massive argument with my brother Simon who had been moaning that I was spending too much time with itinerant preachers and that he was having to do all the work. He wasn't much interested in the coming Messiah. He said he had heard it all before, that so-called Messiahs were always popping up and making ridiculous claims. He had no time for any of it and he wanted me to ' stop messing about and get back to work'
I chose to ignore Simon and had gone out to spend time with John again. That day we were standing in the shade under a tree when you walked past and John pointed to you and said ' Look, there He is. That is the lamb of God' There was something in the way that he said it that made the hairs stand up on my arms and my heart beat fast in my chest. I watched you walk past and head off into the town and all of a sudden I found myself running after you. You turned round to face me and asked what I wanted. I was suddenly completely tongue tied and at a loss for words. I had no idea what I wanted. I couldn't think of a single thing to say. All I knew was that if you were the one we had been waiting for, then I wanted to know you. I think I blurted out something like ' Are you going to be in town for long? Where are you staying?' To which you replied with a smile that I would be welcome to come and see where you were staying. And with that you headed off down the road, turning into a street just off the market place and then up some stairs into the upper storey of a small house. I followed, and you invited me in.
I spent the rest of that day with you. There were others coming in and out but I didnt leave your side. I sat in the cool of the room and listened to you talking about the kingdom of God, the fact that God wanted to establish His reign on the earth and that this Kingdom involved every heart being changed to be like His heart. I had never heard teaching like this before, not even from John. There was something captivating and challenging, wonderful and dangerous about your words. I felt absolutely sure that the authority with which you spoke could achieve great things. Perhaps even the overthrow of Roman rule. You were strong, certain, passionate. As night fell I knew that I had to go and find my brother Simon and tell him that I had found the Messiah.
Simon was not convinced. In fact he was angry. I had spent yet another day away from the boats and the nets and my presence had been missed as that day the crew had landed a fairly heavy catch. Simon was exhausted and in no mood to listen to me that night. We went to bed and the next day I decided I had better do my job and help with the nets, even though I was desperate to spend my time with you. We were sorting out the gear on the shore the following morning when you came walking past. You stopped at our boat and watched for a few minutes as Simon threw a newly repaired net over the side. Then you looked at him and said ' You are Simon. But Im going to call you Peter the Rock. Leave those nets. Ive got people for you to catch instead.'
How did you know his name? I hadnt even told you I had a brother, let alone told you his name. And what did you mean about catching people? I was a bit confused, but Simon ..... well I'm not sure quite what happened to him because within moments of you speaking to him he was reaching for his cloak and jumping off the boat to follow you. I wasn't going to miss out on the chance to find out more about you so I jumped down too and before I knew it I had embarked on this mad crazy life of being a disciple of Jesus. I have not regretted it and I haven't missed the fishing life. I don't think the rest of our boat's crew were too impressed at our disappearance though!
I had been following John for a while, going out to hear him preach and spending much of my free time in discussion with other of his followers about the coming Messiah and the extraordinary response of the people to John's teaching. I had been reminded again of the need to live a life worthy of being a descendent of Abraham. I had repented of my lazy, half-hearted worship of God and had been baptized in the Jordan. I was excited about everything that was going on and to be honest, I wasn't putting as much time into the family fishing business as I should have been. The day I met you I had had a massive argument with my brother Simon who had been moaning that I was spending too much time with itinerant preachers and that he was having to do all the work. He wasn't much interested in the coming Messiah. He said he had heard it all before, that so-called Messiahs were always popping up and making ridiculous claims. He had no time for any of it and he wanted me to ' stop messing about and get back to work'
I chose to ignore Simon and had gone out to spend time with John again. That day we were standing in the shade under a tree when you walked past and John pointed to you and said ' Look, there He is. That is the lamb of God' There was something in the way that he said it that made the hairs stand up on my arms and my heart beat fast in my chest. I watched you walk past and head off into the town and all of a sudden I found myself running after you. You turned round to face me and asked what I wanted. I was suddenly completely tongue tied and at a loss for words. I had no idea what I wanted. I couldn't think of a single thing to say. All I knew was that if you were the one we had been waiting for, then I wanted to know you. I think I blurted out something like ' Are you going to be in town for long? Where are you staying?' To which you replied with a smile that I would be welcome to come and see where you were staying. And with that you headed off down the road, turning into a street just off the market place and then up some stairs into the upper storey of a small house. I followed, and you invited me in.
I spent the rest of that day with you. There were others coming in and out but I didnt leave your side. I sat in the cool of the room and listened to you talking about the kingdom of God, the fact that God wanted to establish His reign on the earth and that this Kingdom involved every heart being changed to be like His heart. I had never heard teaching like this before, not even from John. There was something captivating and challenging, wonderful and dangerous about your words. I felt absolutely sure that the authority with which you spoke could achieve great things. Perhaps even the overthrow of Roman rule. You were strong, certain, passionate. As night fell I knew that I had to go and find my brother Simon and tell him that I had found the Messiah.
Simon was not convinced. In fact he was angry. I had spent yet another day away from the boats and the nets and my presence had been missed as that day the crew had landed a fairly heavy catch. Simon was exhausted and in no mood to listen to me that night. We went to bed and the next day I decided I had better do my job and help with the nets, even though I was desperate to spend my time with you. We were sorting out the gear on the shore the following morning when you came walking past. You stopped at our boat and watched for a few minutes as Simon threw a newly repaired net over the side. Then you looked at him and said ' You are Simon. But Im going to call you Peter the Rock. Leave those nets. Ive got people for you to catch instead.'
How did you know his name? I hadnt even told you I had a brother, let alone told you his name. And what did you mean about catching people? I was a bit confused, but Simon ..... well I'm not sure quite what happened to him because within moments of you speaking to him he was reaching for his cloak and jumping off the boat to follow you. I wasn't going to miss out on the chance to find out more about you so I jumped down too and before I knew it I had embarked on this mad crazy life of being a disciple of Jesus. I have not regretted it and I haven't missed the fishing life. I don't think the rest of our boat's crew were too impressed at our disappearance though!
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