vicious old men

It is quite the pastime today to moan. Maybe it has always been the preserve of the British – after all we have such a lot to moan about. Where does one start? We can complain about the weather – it is too hot, too cold, too windy or too wet. Then there is the government and how can politicians who have the easiest job in the world with such a myriad of perks get everything so hopelessly wrong? Then it’s the NHS. I can’t get treatment quick enough, I can’t get the right medication, and the hospital - don’t they ever clean it!? And don’t start me on religion because religion is the root cause of everything that is wrong in the whole world.

Then we have TV programmes like ‘Grumpy Old Men’ and on the radio in the afternoon a programme that gives scores to the best moans of the day!

In the passage from Matthew ch4 v16-20 it says, ‘As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men”. At once they left their nets and followed him.’ Some have taken thecall of Jesus and jokingly made it say, “Come follow me and I will make you vicious old men!”

Thankfully Jesus means nothing of the sort – in fact Jesus is so committed to us that He won’t relent until he has every part of us and charges it through with the great love of the Father until all our moans turn to love and action.

When He calls us to become fishers of men He actually says that he will do the making. As a follower we have someone upon whom we set our sights, a power to work in us and transform us and a purpose for living that outweighs anything this world has to offer. How good is that!