Jesus said to them, "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." Then they left their nets and followed him. – Mk 1:17
God is good, all the time.
Friends, Jesus sets the tone for starting the ordinary time of the year 2021, focusing our attention on the kingdom of God and inviting us to follow him. The invitation asks us to do two things: repent and believe in the gospel.
The good news is that following Jesus doesn't require extraordinary life of holiness. After all, his mission was not towards the righteous but struggling sinners, to save humanity from the alienation suffered from sin. "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” (Jn 10:10).
However, we know he calls us to repent. An excellent approach to repentance is the daily exanimation of conscience. One thing the devil and sin fear is confrontation. Confront yourself about your weakness, admit it to yourself-the bad habits, anger, bad temper, the difficulty to forgive others- and you will soon gain victory over it as it frees from you.
The devil and sin manifest in secrecy. They enjoy the hidden, pent up feelings of shame and guilt that mark our lives, and gain control over us when we never want to admit or let anyone know so they can help us. It makes them happy.
Yet we know that one sure way to break any fetters of weakness is frequent examination of conscience and confession. Sometimes, we clearly see the need to go to confession, but we make excuses and postpone it time and time again, allowing the weakness to fester. You can kill the weakness gradually by acting immediately to admit and confess and you gain power over the fault and the sin.
Jesus also asks us to believe in the gospel. Doing so is to our tremendous benefit. For the offers us the joy of the Lord as our strength (Cf Nehemiah 8:10) and increases our happiness and peace. It doesn’t take anything from us, instead it enriches us.
The first four disciples responded instantly to Jesus and followed him without fearing to lose their life gains. They showed the willingness to live and guide their lives by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We can learn from them to surrender to Jesus.
Prayer blessings: Join me in thanking God today because exactly 9 years ago, I my feet touched on this land of the free and home of the brave. Glory to God because of my life, ministry, studies, and families and friends. Many gains are in Jesus.