Peter

After Jesus was Baptized, after 40 days in the wilderness Jesus left Galilee to go into Capernaum.

Matthew 4: 17 tells us that Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”
Matthew 4:18, says one day, Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee and He saw Peter and his brother mending their nets. Jesus said "Follow me and I will make you fishers of men”. At once they dropped their nets and followed Him.
In Luke 5: 1-11, we read: And it came to pass, that as the people pressed upon him to hear the Word of God, he stood by the Lake of Gennesaret and saw two ships standing by the lake but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. Jesus entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. He sat down and taught the people out of the ship. 4: Now when he had left speaking he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught. (A catch of fish)
Simon argued that they had toiled all night and caught nothing, but cast down the net anyway. They caught so many fish the net almost broke and they filled both ships until they began to sink. Then Simon Peter fell down at Jesus knees, saying “depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
Jesus said to him, “Fear not from henceforth you shall catch men”
Matthew 4: says Jesus asked them to “follow me, and I will make you fishers of men”

Peter left his boat and became a vessel to be used by the Lord.!!!

What kind of man was Peter. Was he so much different than any of us?
We saw him recognize his great need as he fell on his knees and cried out” depart from me for I am a sinful man”
The first step to following and receiving Christ into our life is to recognize our sinfulness and our own need of a Savior.
Verse 11 says “they forsook all and followed Jesus”
Peter became a disciple, which means, to follow or to come after, to learn from.
Are you a follower of Jesus?
Have you heard Him ask you to come to Him?
The call to follow Christ is a PERSONAL call.
The call comes to each of us, and we answer, one way or the other, Yes or No.
Peter promptly answered by laying down the nets of his trade to follow Jesus.

Often we see Peter as the impulsive one, bold, a little crude, but always protective of the Lord. He often disagreed with Jesus. When JESUS spoke of what kind of death He would suffer, Peter challenged His statement
Peter thought he could follow Christ always, but denied Him three times. In Matthew 16:22, 23- Jesus rebuked him and said ‘get behind me, Satan” when Peter disagreed with Christ about the last days of His life. But when Jesus asked the disciples “Who do men say that I am?” Peter gave the inspired answer “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” Matt 16. Yet he fell asleep when Jesus asked him to pray in the garden.
A follower must be obedient. Matt: 16:24-27. It is not enough to agree with the teaching, but we must love the teacher enough to follow His words and obey. Peter often challenged Jesus and was questioning what He taught, but Jesus did not expect Peter to be perfect, just to trust Him and obey His Word.

In Matthew 18:21 we see Peter asking about forgiveness. Yes Christ forgave him all his sin, but how many times should he forgive one who sinned against him?
Jesus said, not just seven times, but seventy times seven. In other words forgive as you want to be forgiven. Unlimited is the grace and mercy of our loving Lord!

Peter was fearful, doubting when he sat down among the enemy on the night of Jesus trial. Luke 22:55-
It is dangerous to linger to long with the accuser and can lead to our denial of the truth which we know in our hearts.
But Peter realized his mistake and wept bitterly.
Later at the Sea of Tiberius, in John 21, Jesus stood with the disciples, told them to cast out the net, called them to follow Him. Then He asked Peter, Do you love me, Peter? Peter affirmed his love, but Jesus asked Him three times, each time Peter answered “YES” and Jesus said “Feed my Sheep:
In the Book of Acts, we read of the ministry of Peter, his obedience to tarry in Jerusalem until he was endued with power from on high. Then he went forth in power and authority to obey the Lord's command and worked faithfully until he was crucified for his faith.

Do we LOVE the Lord that much?
Are we willing to take that first step and repent of our sins, turning our life over to the Lord? Will we wait until we receive that power of the Holy Spirit and go forth in the Name of our Lord, doing His work?

The song says, "Trust and obey, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

I might add I find no other way to be happy, in this world, than to FOLLOW HIM!
Can we learn a lesson from Peter, and become a disciple of Jesus Christ, Savior and soon Coming King?