Burn the Ships

When was the last time you thought about God's call on your life? In Mark 1:16-20 we find where Jesus calls His first disciples. It says:

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. Jesus called to them, "Come, follow Me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" And they left their nets at once and followed Him. A little farther up the shore Jesus saw Zebedee's sons, James and John, in a boat repairing their nets. He called them at once, and they also followed him, leaving their father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired men.

As I read these verses I can't help but notice the reaction of the soon to be disciples. They didn't say:

• "Let me think about it," 
• "What does it mean to fish for people?" 
• "What is involved in following you, Jesus?"
• "Let me finish fishing for today, go home and rest and then I will let you know."

Scripture does not document any of those reactions. Instead what I notice is that when Jesus called them they left their nets at once and followed Him. No questions. No hesitations. They left everything they knew to follow a Man they knew only a little. They exchanged the known for the unknown. And they did it immediately. They were forever changed and their impact on society is still being felt today. 

As I studied those verses I thought of the new song by For King and Country called, "Burn the Ships." 

That thought led to the story about Hernan Cortez. Are you familiar with that story? He took his men to Mexico to seize some treasure that no one had been able to seize. When he got there he noticed that his men were weary, scared and ready to go back home; back to their old way of life. The legend is that he had them burn the ships. Once the ships were burned there was no way they could turn back and go home. All that was left of their old life was ashes. They were fully committed and were the first in history to take the treasure.

Burning our ships means there is no way to go back. We are 100% committed to whatever God has called us to do. There comes a time that we must examine what Jesus has called us to do. Are we fully committed or are there physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual struggles that are keeping us from being 100% committed? Are we hanging on to our fishing nets "just in case?" If so, let me encourage you to trust that when you leave your nets or burn your ships for what Jesus has called you to you will experience great blessing and satisfaction of being used by the One who created you. Your impact on society for the One who created you will be felt for generations.

I want to leave you with this thought: In Isaiah 61:3 it says, "To all who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes..." So even that which we burn so we can be fully committed to Him will be exchanged for a crown of beauty. Oh how great is our God!

What ships do you need to burn today?