Just like the fishermen, you're being invited!
I love picturing in my mind the scenes I read in the Bible. One of the accounts I like to picture is that day Jesus was walking and teaching along the Sea of Galilee. He would have been surrounded by a lot of learned men—Pharisees, Scribes, Teachers of the Law. But He kept walking. As a matter of fact, He walked right through those learned men and walked right up to a bunch of fishermen who weren’t necessarily paying attention to Him. They were busy on their boats.
Busy on their boats. I mean, really?
They weren’t following this new, enigmatic teacher. They were working on their boats. Of course, they had surely heard of this Jesus, and they may have even been curious, but their attention was on their work, on getting the nets ready to fish.
But then here came Jesus. He walked right up to these guys who weren’t really looking for Him, and He revealed Himself to them. He told them that He would make them fishers of men, and I think the immensity of God’s presence immediately brought them to only one word in response: “Yes.”
Can you imagine how these men felt in the next months and years later as they realized the gravity of knowing Jesus, being with Jesus, hearing Jesus’ words and prophecies? They had to be overwhelmed with gratitude! After all, Jesus was including them! He had chosen to reveal His plans and His intentions and His very God-ness to them!
I can’t even fathom how honored they had to have felt to be in on something so glorious and literally earth-shattering.
That’s kind of how I feel about the 2000-year celebration of Jesus resurrection on April 17, 2033. A few months ago, this was just a date for me. I knew what it signified, but the enormity of it wasn’t real for me—at least not yet.
I went to the Global Summit of National Coordinators for JC2033 in Geneva, Switzerland, in that state of mind. I intellectually knew what it was about, and I intellectually agreed with the entire thing. But my heart wasn’t there. I needed passion to be a part of it, and I prayed God would give me that in Geneva. What He did, however, was much more than I imagined.
Within the first few minutes of the first session I attended, God literally, like a blanket, wrapped me up in the enormity of what I was being invited into. That truth settled onto this very pragmatic, no-nonsense woman with such enormity that it took my breath away. I suddenly knew that this event will be more than a date, more than a celebration, more than a milestone. This will be a revealing, and God invited me in!
I was overwhelmed! Why me? Why would God invite me into something so important and yet again, so earth-shattering? And then He reminded me of the fishermen. God always calls those who least expect it, weren’t really thinking about it, but who would say, “Yes.”
Those fishermen said, “Yes.” God’s invitation to partake in any part of His work will never be about station or money or reputation. God invites those who say, “Yes.”
It’s always about the “Yes.” It’s about submission and obedience and humility. The anniversary of my Savior’s resurrection will be earth-shattering, and God is inviting those who will say “Yes” to be a part of it. I’m still in awe that He invited me. What an honor. What a joy to say, “Yes,” to April 17, 2033! On that day, I think we’re going to hear a worldwide throng saying the same thing together:
Yes!!
Dr. Deb Waterbury
J17 Ministries Board of Directors
Pastor, Adult Ministries, Zion City
CEO, Deb Waterbury, LLC
