Safety Means Many Things

Walking by the Sea of Galilee, Jesus saw
Simon Peter and Andrew fishing.
"Come with me, and I'll make you fishers of
people," Jesus called. Then He saw James
and John, and called them. All the men left
their fishing nets and followed Jesus.

Safety is a big subject in school. You learn how to watch out for strangers, how to call 9-1-1 in an emergency - even how to "stop, drop and roll" if you ever get fire on your clothes. 

The most important thing you learn is to take quick action to stay safe.

The Apostles didn't get to learn all those things in school, but they must have understood the idea of acting quickly when it's important. In this week's Gospel (Mark 1:14-20), that's just what they did!

When you're dealing with an emergency, you try to stay calm but do what you need to do, like calling for help or getting away from a bad situation. You think about what you learned and make a quick choice to keep yourself and others safe.

Simon Peter, Andrew, James and John were fishermen. They didn't just fish for fun; it was their job, earning them money to support their families. Until Jesus came along, that was the most important thing in their lives.

But, like a kid in an emergency, they saw Jesus, thought of what they had learned about the person God would send to save the world, and acted quickly. They realized they had to follow Jesus, and they dropped everything right away to do it.

Safety can mean a lot of things: running away from a bad person, running toward help, even rolling on the ground. For the Apostles, safety meant leaving their nets and everything else to follow the Son of God. They could tell He had important things to teach them!

(1/22/09)