Mark 1.16-20:
Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. (17) And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” (18) And immediately they left their nets and followed him. (19) And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. (20) And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. (ESV)
At the point and time of these verses, these men had spent time with Jesus and interacted with him to such an extent that they knew him in more than a casual way. They had also seen him perform the miracle of the great catch of fish. Hence, they were persuaded that Jesus is the Messiah. These two events of their calling are Jesus’ first selections of the people he would choose to be his disciples. The word “disciple” is from the root word which means “to learn”. So Jesus will be their Teacher and they will learn from him. And what they learn from Jesus will be the foundation for the rest of theirs lives of service to Jesus. We also get to participate in a similar learning process by reading and studying the life and actions and words of Jesus in the four gospels of the New Testament. We also have the opportunity to put what we learn from Jesus into action in our lives.
When these four disciples made their decision to follow Jesus, they acted suddenly, decisively, and completely. We would call it, “going all in.” Jesus didn’t call everyone he came into contact with to abandon their businesses, careers, and families. But he did call everyone to make a full commitment of faith in him as the Son of God. And in terms of committing oneself to Jesus, and his teaching, and the way he wants us to live our lives, we are also afforded the opportunity and the ability to “go all in” in the particular and specific way God would want us to. Certainly a person can be a Christian without “going all in”, but my own life’s experience has been such that choosing to do less produced unhappiness and a sense of futility.