If It Hadn't Been for Love

Today was my first small group of the term! This is my second time leading a small group, and a first with non-believers. We did a Bible study on Luke 5:1-11, about the calling of the first disciples. I think it was about the sixth time that I had done this study and despite that, I am glad to say that I think it was very fruitful. We discussed some topics that I had never really thought much about before and it was very interesting!

I think for me, this last verse was what stuck out to me the most,

"Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him." (Luke 5:10-11)

What would it take for you to leave everything and follow Jesus? This was one of the questions that came up during our discussion. Some of the responses that my group members said were really interesting as well. They said things like; "He would have to die and raise back to life for me to believe and want to follow him", "He would have to prove his love to me, a love that is worth more than any other love that I have", "He would have to provide and care for me, be someone that I could trust my life and rely on", "He would have to offer me a better life".

The depth of the answers that were generated from this one question amazed me. For Simon Peter, all Jesus had to do for him to leave all he had behind and follow him was to show him a miracle - to catch more fish than they could carry in the most unlikely of situations. That was enough to convince Simon Peter and his fellow fishermen (James and John) that Jesus was someone worth following and leaving everything behind for. 

For some reason, the responses that I got from my small group really reminded me of this song If It Hadn't Been for Love - Steeldrivers (or you can hear Adele's version). The lyrics talk about all the crazy things you would never have done if it hadn't been for love. It seems like there's something about love that attracts people automatically toward it. Love seems to carry a lot of worth, whether it was back in Peter and Jesus' time, or now, in the 21st century. What can you gain more than love, if love isn't enough for you to trade everything else for?


I read Philemon today. It only has one chapter, it is a letter from Paul to a slave owner, kindly pleading with him to take his former slave, Onesimus back as a dear brother.