Adam and Eve had free reign of the garden. They just had one
rule. Don’t touch that one tree. So that’s the fruit they ate. God punished
them, but He also gave them a promise.
Out of all that horrible news God had for them, there was
one good thing. Yes, from then on life would be really tough. Men would have to
plow the ground and battle thorns and thistles. Yes, women would have
unimaginable pain when giving birth. Yes, as a result of this first sin, people
would continue to sin. But someday, a descendent of the woman would come and
put an end to the tempter’s evil trickery. This descendent would crush the
snake’s head, but the snake would bite.
Abram was getting old. He and Sarai were way too old for
kids, and they were starting to get worried it wouldn’t happen. When God kept
insisting they would have a child, they laughed! How many 100-year-old fathers
of a newborn baby do you know? But God promised Abram that he would be the
father of many nations. Abram would have so many descendants that counting them
would be like trying to count grains of sand or stars in the sky. God even gave
him a new name, Abraham, which meant “Father of Many.” God kept His promise to
Abraham, and Isaac was born. Isaac had a son named Jacob. Jacob had a son named
Judah. Judah had kids. A bunch of Judah’s descendants became kings of the
nations of Israel and Judah, just as God had promised Abraham so many years
earlier. Thousands of years later, the greatest King of all time was born in a
small town during a Roman census. He was also a descendant of Judah, and He was
the one God was referring to when He said that someone would come along and
crush the snake’s head. He grew up as the son of a carpenter, and He learned to
make things out of wood. As He got older, He started teaching others. His name
was Jesus.
There were lots of jobs that people needed to do then, just
as there are now. They needed carpenters to make things. They needed fishermen
to catch fish for the people to eat. One time, four friends were out fishing,
and they were having a horrible time of it. No fish seemed interested in
finding out what might be in the nets that came over the sides of the boats.
Simon and his brother Andrew were fishing in one boat, and John and his brother
James were in the other boat. They had been fishing all night, and had no luck.
It was getting really frustrating!
Morning finally came, and they gave up. They decided to
start washing their nets to get ready to put them away. Maybe they would have
better luck another day.
Jesus was standing by the lake, and there was a huge crowd
gathered to hear what He had to say. There was hardly any room for Him to make
Himself heard, so He looked out and saw the two fishing boats nearby. Jesus
asked Simon if He could use his boat for a while. They pulled away a bit from
the shore, and Jesus started teaching in a loud voice so everyone onshore could
hear. When He was done with the lesson, He turned to Simon and said, “Hey, let’s
go out a bit further to where the water is deep. Then let the nets down again and
see what happens.”
“Um, Lord,” said Simon, “We’ve been doing that all night. No
luck. But if you say so, we’ll try it.” So they pulled out farther. Simon and
Andrew let down the nets, and they couldn’t believe it! Fish started jumping
into the nets! They were getting so heavy that they had to call to James and
John for backup! Pretty soon, there were so many fish in both boats that the
boats started to sink!
They were so shocked that Simon said, “Get out of here,
Lord! I’m not worthy! I’m a sinful man!”
Jesus replied, “Don’t worry. You’ve been catching fish all
your life. Now you get to fish for people.”
Once they got their boats on shore, they left everything
behind and followed Jesus. But He had some more people in mind to invite to
join His little group of students.
The Jews hated tax collectors. They had a horrible
reputation for taking more money than they were entitled to, and the citizens
resented it. A guy named Levi was sitting at his tax booth, dealing with angry
Jews day in and day out. They didn’t dare disobey him in case they might get in
trouble, but they didn’t like him. At all. So it was probably a bit of a
surprise when a Jewish rabbi with a small group of followers came along and
said, “Hey Levi, come on!” Levi left everything and joined Jesus’ growing
group.
But before leaving, Levi hosted a big party for Jesus at his
house and invited a bunch of his tax collector friends. The Pharisees saw what
was happening, and they were upset. They didn’t think Jesus should associate
with such horrible thieves as tax collectors. But Jesus said, “Whoa, dudes!
Chill! If you’re healthy, you don’t need a doctor! The good guys don’t need to
turn their lives around, so I’m here to help the sinners to turn!”
Levi turned his life around. He followed Jesus, and he
became known as Matthew. Simon became known as Peter. James, John and Andrew
got to keep their names (although Jesus nicknamed James and John the Sons of
Thunder). More followers joined their group, and Jesus taught them to follow
God, to love others, and to spread the good news that people can be saved from
their sin!
ΙΧΘΥΣ
The Greek word ichthys, or fish. It was used by early Christians as an acronym for the Greek words Ίησος Χριστός, Θεο Υός, Σωτήρ, or "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior."
© 2014 Steven Sauke
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