Tuesday, January 21

Matthew 4:21-22
As he went from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him.
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There is a bittersweetness about this scene.  Zebedee watching his sons leave the family trade to follow an itinerant teacher.  Was Zebedee proud? Was he angry?  Was he smart enough to know that he could not tell his adult sons what to do?  Was he jealous?  Did he busy himself with the nets in his hands looking down and looking up and looking down again, wrestling with the knot in his throat?  There are ways for all to be disciples of Jesus Christ.  Some drop what they are doing and follow.  Some keep doing what they are doing and give and believe in ways that reckoned as righteousness. 
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For all who serve and sacrifice in their own way, we give thanks. Amen.