They left their dad in the boat.
People always make the disciples out to be stupid fishermen who gave up a crappy life for something better, but you actually had to be a pretty successful (if not shrewd) businessman to survive the thriving fishing market on the Sea of Galilee. This is where Jesus found Simon, Andrew, James and John. James and John’s family business was doing well enough that they were able to hire additional workers and Simon and Andrew were their business partners. Given these dynamics, when Jesus told them to leave everything behind and follow him, they weren’t necessarily walking away from nothing. Again, James and John literally left their dad in his boat and walked away from their own family.
When Jesus’ disciples mentioned that they had left their homes behind to follow Jesus, he responded, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.” What have we lost for Jesus?
*This devotional was created out of the themes of Romans 12:1-8 found in today’s reading at CommonPrayer.net. Below are the various AI-created pictures I typed into existence via Mid Journey to mock up artwork for today’s post.
Jamin Bradley 