In Matthew 4:18-19, we are told, while Jesus walking by bthe Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Peter and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Peter and his brother were not rich but a very poor fishermen. They weren’t priests or religious leaders in their synagogue.
Focusing on Peter alone, for the purposes of this sermon, we notice he wasn’t a man of faith but an unrefined quick tempered person. He was an impulsive person who also used bad, profane and crude language in his daily dealings as a fisherman. Yet Jesus called or chose him to be one of the twelve disciples who would change the world.
The question many hypocrites and people who claim sanctimonious piety before men would ask is, why Peter, despite his openly and known sinful persona? Luke 19:10 says, for the Son of Man came to seek that which is lost. Moreover, Peter was chosen because Jesus saw in that poor, uneducated and disadvantaged fisherman, a history maker and a world changer.
Beloved, unlike men, God looks and sees beyond our flaws, weaknesses and failures as humans. He sees the masterpiece we can become. There are many who have refused to yeild to the call of Christ on their lives because they feel unqualified, given their human weaknesses. There are many that men would not give a chance to serve in the ministry of Christ because they are perceived in the physical to have sinful attitude. But God doesn’t need perfect people to work with.
Everyone anointed to do the work of God has a weakness, some known, others hidden. So, we must yield to be used by Christ in spite of our weaknesses. We must also not judge people, but give them a chance, especially when we know and can feel a palpable gift or talent that can be deployed to aid the work of God. For, it was the honor done Peter by being asked to follow Christ, in spite of his crude behavior, that made him work on himself to change to fit his calling. In much the same way, the honor in being seen as Christians, as people who know Christ and as people called to serve, in spite of our weaknesses, must be enough to help us work on ourselves to be right with God, and as happened to Peter, we would also be the rock upon which many great things of God would be founded.
The Lord help me; the Lord help you, shalom, peace be unto us all, amen.
Source: newsthemegh.com