Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Education for the Transformation of Life 

Bible Reading:  St. Luke 5:1-11

Key verse

Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. Luke 5:10-11

DEVOTION

In 1883, at the peak of his career, an English cricketer chose to abandon his wealth, fame, and comfort to travel halfway across the world to China.  He joined the Cambridge Seven, a Christian missionary group. His name was C.T. Studd, and he walked away to pursue something greater than his own success. He wrote, “If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.”
Simon Peter faced a similar decision. In Luke 5, Jesus told him to cast his nets again, after fishing all night with nothing to show. The catch was so large the boats nearly sank! Yet at the height of that success, Jesus said, “From now on you will fish for people.” Peter and his partners pulled their boats to shore, left everything and followed Him. Peter had built a career on being a fisherman, devoting his time, energy and effort to master the skill. But at the mention of spending a lifetime with Jesus, he abandoned his own pursuit.
Both Studd and Simon Peter had skills, then walked away from their careers because they’d encountered something greater. Most of us aren’t fishermen or cricketers, but we all have our own “nets”, the knowledge and wisdom we’ve built in our own fields. And while our own pursuit is a gift, Luke 5 asks whether we’ll set it down when God calls us beyond it. Life with Jesus is a life transformed. 

 

PRAYER

 

Heavenly Father, thank you for giving us wisdom and the ability to pursue knowledge and educate ourselves. Help us to remember to not value our own pursuits over the pursuit of You, for the privilege of following You is something far greater than anything we can chase in this world. Please remind us to leave our own pursuit of wisdom to pursue the One who gave us wisdom in the first place.  

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

 Three things to remember: 
Leave your own pursuit for something greater (Jesus!)
Leave your comfort zone in order to grow.
Trust God with life after transformation.


Hannah Kurien
St. Stephen’s MarThoma Church, NJ

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