Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.””
NL Daily Devotion for Friday, January 25, 2019
by Dr. Kimberly Leetch, Clergy Stuff
Jesus knew what many of us resist — we can’t do it alone. Our culture has taught us to be so independent, it can be hard sometimes to receive help, and harder still to ask for it. Jesus knew his mission and ministry were too big for one person. He gathered people he believed could help him change the world.
One of my entrepreneur role models, Barbara Corcoran (of Shark Tank fame) said about people who succeed:
“They have a single-minded focus of what they do well. They are acutely aware of what their skillset is," Corcoran says. "With me, I realized that my great strengths are marketing and sizing up people. So I integrated me into every piece of my business when those two things were important, and delegated everything else so that I could hyperfocus and put all my energy behind my skillset.” — PressFarm
I often find that the self-improvement movement focuses on working on our weaknesses. But wisdom suggests focusing on our strengths and letting go (or delegating) our weaknesses will make up happier, more productive, and more effective.
I sometimes wonder what Jesus saw in those fishers that he knew he needed on his team. Maybe it was that they were in touch with the commoners and spoke the language of the people. Maybe he knew they were hard workers. We’ll never know what Jesus saw in those followers. But we can look inside ourselves to see what Jesus sees in us that can be used to make this world better.
Narrative Lectionary Daily Reading:
Matthew 4:18-22
As he walked by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fish for people.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
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