"... and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him..."
This didn't happen just like that - the radical response to the Call, that is.
They had heard Christ's message of repentance long before this moment. The Message was spreading everywhere in that region. News about the invading Kingdom was the talk of the town. Locals talked about it in the fields, elders talked about it in their Synagogue (perhaps even preached on it), and fishermen talked about it on the same sea that one of them - after responding to the Call - would leave his boat and friends and, stepping into a deeper Invitation, walk upon its stormy surface. The Word was working in the hearts of these future disciples long before they had the opportunity to respond to it.
Timing is everything.
The initial Invitation to rise and willingly forsake everything for the sake of the Call is, to say the least, challenging. It demands us to think it all through, to carefully consider the Invitation - and it's probable implications - so that, when our time arrives, we can unashamedly rise and leave both boat and father - both material and relational - for the sake of the Gospel.
Others do that, too.
It's easy to be frustrated with the perceived procrastination of our friends and family (with regard to responding to the Gospel). We angst , "When are they going to forsake all to follow Christ?" "It's a simple decision - just say yes!" Yet, to be sure, if you are praying for them, God's is wrestling within. Find rest in knowing that, deeply and daily, your loved ones are internally engaged in a consecrated consideration concerning the sacrificial ending of their life. For them, as it was for you, that's a tough call.
One day, when they see the Rabbi walking their shore with the Invitation of the Bigger Catch, they will do so wholeheartedly, without looking back, forsaking both material and relational for the greater Life of the Call.
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