The Journey 43: Transformation in my life

Read: Luke 5:1-11
Key Verse: “Then Jesus said to Simon “ Don’t be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” [ Luke 5: 10]
                          The New Jersey Turnpike is a highway that we all travel. But as you come from New York towards Philadelphia on the entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike on  I-95, you will have a very small space for deviating to two different roads, soon after you pay the toll. It is within that small stretch of road that the people who drive needs to decide whether to turn to I-95 North or  to I–95 South. In my first year we clergies of the Philadelphia church’s were returning back to Philly from New York, and I was driving, but then as we were in fellowship and laughing at the jokes that was being shared, we came to entrance of the New Jersey Turnpike, and I had the confusion whether to take I-95 north or I-95 south. Boldly I took the one of I-95 deviations.  Philip George achen who was with me asked in between are we following the correct route  and I said yes don't worry, you crack your jokes, I will manage the wheel. We drove on but after about 45 minutes of drive, we saw that we were seeing some familiar spots. PG Achen suddenly said “ Hey this is New York!!!!”. I had taken the wrong deviation. Instead of taking I-95 South, I had taken I-95 North. We managed to turn back and then once again came to the entrance of New Jersey Turnpike and that is when we took I-95 South to come to Philly. That day the two hour Philly drive from New York took us almost 6 hours. Even today when I reach the entrance of I-95 on New Jersey turnpike, I remember the 6 hour drive. I think we all go through such experience where we slog and work the whole day but at the end of the day you sometime realize that all your work and effort that you put in was in vain. Sometimes this is a reality of life. But through such experiences we can learn some valuable lessons that could transform our personal life.
                  On Monday’s we meditate on how we can bring about transformation in our personal life. From this week onwards we are starting a new portion and a new character that we will meditate on. The character is another familiar person and he is “Simon Peter”, the first followers of Jesus Christ. How did Jesus bring transformation in the life of Simon Peter which made him to leave his nets, his boat to follow Jesus Christ?. In the portion for our meditation in Luke 5: 1-11, we find in the initial verses, Jesus climbing into the boat of Simon Peter and asking Simon Peter to take him away from the shore. Here is Jesus consciously coming into the boat of Simon Peter. As he goes a little farther, Jesus tells Simon Peter to put the nets again into water and that is when Simon Peter tell him about his woes as to how he fished all night long but caught nothing. All his effort and his pain was in vain. Simon Peter is going through a desolate experience in his life, where he feels his living, his profession and all the efforts that he has put into his professional job on that particular day has not yielded fruits. A day where he is may be ruing about his failure and may be even job of being a fisherman. It is here that Jesus Chris makes a difference in his life by asking him to put the nets again. We all know the miraculous catch the Peter got when he obeyed Jesus Christ.
                  I feel we may also at times go through such experience when we feel that the job that we do, the work that we did the whole day does not give us any meaning or we may wonder at the end of the day “ what did I get by working so hard”. It in this context that we need to allow Jesus to enter into our professional life so that His presence with us will transform our profession living and goals and bring meaning even to our life in general and professional life in particular.
         Depressed that you are stuck in your professional life, allow Jesus Christ to enter into your boat.
Let us Pray: Lord thank you for the work that you entrust, the job that we have. But there are times when we feel depressed about our wok and our professional life. Enrich and transform our life through your presence. Amen

Popular posts from this blog

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Word for the day by Christian Education Forum