Gospel Doctrine: Leaving our "Nets" Behind

Leaving Our “Nets” Behind

by Hunter Sebresos, Gospel Doctrine Instructor

In the book of Matthew an account of Jesus Christ calling his apostles reads, “And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.”

Isn’t it powerful to imagine these fishermen, who rely upon their catch for daily sustenance, straightway leave their nets and follow Christ? From this account we learn of their willingness and commitment and perhaps ask ourselves, “how willing would I be to do the same?”

The Challenge

In a recent gospel doctrine class we discussed the significance of these bible verses. We were also issued challenge to leave behind a “net” in our individual lives and more fully follow the Savior. Members of the class were encouraged work on leaving this behavior or habit behind for the duration of a week and then approach the sacrament the following sunday ready to account of their efforts.

One class member shared the following experience:

“I guess the net would be my tendency to get up in the morning, rush off to the gym, come home, work out a bit more, get to my office, start my business day. All the while thinking "I'll say a prayer in a minute when I finish...But too often prayer gets lost in the mix….for this week I will pray more regularly. With more intent. More honesty. More willingness to listen."  

Upon completing the week of commitment, this same member shared:

“It was a good week. Prayer was more consistent. More honest. More heartfelt. I had more peace in my heart. Days were better. So... what did I leave behind? The hustle and bustle of life. To an extent. I found time, more often, for prayer.”

Becoming a committed disciple of Christ doesn’t usually require dramatic life changes but small sacrifices and behaviors that help us leave behind the world and become more like Him. As the demands of life compete for our attention, we can look to the apostles as examples and muster enough faith to leave some less important things behind. When we do so, we will improve our focus and commitment to Christ.

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Now it’s your turn:

If you would like to participate in the “Leave Your Nets” challenge. Apply the steps below:

Challenge Question: What “net” do you need to leave behind to more readily follow the savior as the apostles did?

1. Think of something simple that you can change this week.

2. Write it down or store it in your phone.

3. Act on this goal this week.

4. Approach the sacrament next week as if you are coming to an accounting before Christ about the net you left behind.

We invite you to share your experience with the challenge at: http://bit.ly/LeaveNet