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. (30) And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him. (ESV)
These four fishermen placed their futures in Jesus’ hands. Their interactions with Jesus had not been so extensive that all doubt had been removed. They had to follow Jesus by faith that He actually was the Messiah. Even the great catch of fish recorded in Luke 5.1-11 could have been explained away by someone who wanted to be a skeptic.
But Andrew and Peter, James and John did have faith in Jesus as truly the Messiah promised in the prophetic writings of the Old Testament. And they committed their lives to His leadership. They left behind the settledness of their fishing businesses. There would be no turning back, and in John 6.66-69 Jesus asked His Twelve disciples if they wanted to depart from following Him. Peter responds in verse 68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” (ESV)
The following link is a related posting I did on September 21, 2018.