One of my favorite scenes in the Gospel story comes early when Jesus calls the disciples. To understand the calling, you need to understand their world. The disciples were fishermen, which meant that they had tried other routes and no one had picked them. They could not be rabbis, scholars, lawyers, or even a follower of a rabbi. They had not gotten picked, they were overlooked, and so they went fishing. It was not a powerful or popular job; it was a job for misfits and those who the world did not pick. It’s the job for those picked last for dodge ball.

They are out fishing when Jesus calls them. I imagine that it would have been quite a scene. This rough, tired fishermen being stopped by a rabbi, a rabbi would never stop to talk to fishermen. He stops and then he does the unexplainable, he tells them to follow him. He calls them to be his followers, it’s another twist on the story because you asked to be a follower of a certain rabbi, never did a rabbi ask you to follow him. But Rabbi Jesus calls them to follow him.

And they drop their nets and follow Jesus. Never have they heard such a calling. The calling was so powerful and inviting. They dropped what was safe to them, what they knew best, the one way they knew to make a living, and they followed this Rabbi.

Mark adds this detail into his gospel, “immediately.” They did not stop and think about it. They did not make a pro and con list. They did not debate if this was a good road to take. They immediately dropped their nets and followed.

Maybe it was the voice of the one calling them; they had never heard a voice so true. Maybe it was the confidence that this rabbi had in them, his call made them believe in themselves. Maybe it was the compassion, grace, acceptance found in the eyes of this rabbi. Whatever it was, they immediately dropped their nets to flow.

I am not sure we are willing to risk it for the call of Jesus. I think many of us tend to carry our nets with us when Jesus calls; we need a back up, a just in case, a ‘if this does not work out, I can throw my nets out somewhere else’ plan, simply a plan b. We don’t follow immediately, we tell Jesus we are going to get back with him on this one. We need to make sure that this calling is going to match up with our work and social calendars. We need to check to make sure this is not going to interfere too much with our plans.

Sadly, if we carry our nets with us, we get loaded down and can’t keep up with the footsteps of our Jesus. If we delay answering the call, perhaps we miss the call. By missing that call, we might be missing it all.

So take time today to see if you are carrying your net with you still. See if you have put off answering a call on your life. Become as risk-taking and willing as Andrew and Simon, immediately drop your nets and run after our Rabbi.