[moldbreakers]

When I was a kid, one of my favorite games to play in school was “Simon Says” (a popular time-wasting game utilized by educators/babysitters/camp-counselors all over the world, I’m sure). To be more specific, my favorite part was when I was chosen to be “Simon”, the leader of the group that could do anything and require that the rest of the group follow their every move. This probably means I was a selfish, power-hungry child with control issues, but at least I can admit it in this moment.

Anyway, “Simon Says” was a great game. As I think about it as an adult, it reveals 2 truths about kids – but also humans in general.

Truth #1: Everyone likes to be followed.

Truth #2: No one really likes to follow someone else.

The feeling you get when you are in charge is scary, oddly fulfilling and slightly awkward. It’s a mixture of your stomach doing cartwheels and the rush of watching the climax of an action-packed movie. The thing is that it can also be intoxicating. Too much control without checks and balances would turn me into an absolute monster. My pride would get the best of me, without a doubt, and I would turn into a self-centered jerk.

The inverse goes for being a follower. When I have to follow someone, no matter how accomplished and competent they are, my thoughts turn into, “I should be doing their job. People should be following me. I could do better than that. I’m BETTER.” My pride says that I deserve power. I deserve control. I deserve recognition.

I’d much rather be a “Simon”.

Here is the truth. I was never meant to be a Simon.

I wasn’t meant to be the Simon of anyone else’s life, or even my own.

I can think about how many terrible decisions that I have made while doing what I wanted to do. It has affected my life, other’s lives – negatively – and it is because I thought I was the Simon. If you would be honest, I think you could and would say the same.

At the same time, and this is the awkward thing about it: Even though we weren’t meant to lead our own lives, we were meant to follow something. Someone.

Just like Simon Says, all our lives need a leader.

In Luke 5, Peter, James and John were busy in the middle of their lives, following their own paths and finding it unfulfilling when they encountered the leader they desperately needed. I know Peter, James and John were unfulfilled because they had just come up empty. They were fishermen, but this particular day they couldn’t seem to catch any fish. They had fished and fished and had nothing to show for it. A long night of trying had amounted to nothing (ever been there?) when a teacher named Jesus stepped into their domain and gave them a command.

“Let down your nets.”

But they had been letting down their nets. They had been searching for fish and they hadn’t caught anything. And Jesus wasn’t even a fisherman, he was a carpenter. They probably were skeptical at best. But when Peter and the boys followed Jesus’s instructions, something incredible happened. They caught more fish in that moment than they probably had in the year prior.

This was their life’s work, which suddenly had turned very empty. But with a simple command, Jesus turned everything around. He didn’t tell them to get different nets. He didn’t instruct them on fish-catching technique. He didn’t show them to a different lake.

He said, “Let down your nets.”

What was the difference, then? They were following someone different. Simply, they were not following themselves – they trusted and did what Jesus said to do. Jesus did the rest.  Jesus turned their failure into success. He turned their regularly-scheduled programming into a miracle. He did something amazing with regular dudes – and then he continued to do something amazing with them for the rest of his earthly life. From that moment on, Peter, James and John stopped being fisherman and became followers of Jesus, the Son of God. They then spread the Good News of Christianity, the same Good News I bring to you right now. It is this – join in. Follow Jesus.

“Let down your nets.”

If you aren’t following Jesus, you’re coming up empty whether you know it or not. That sounds harsh. This is what I mean.

In John 8:12, Jesus spoke to the people and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”

Our lives in human hands will have human results – and those will eventually pass away just like we will. They will turn to dust and blow away with the wind.

Our lives in the hands of God will last forever. They will have eternal impact. They will be written in the book of life. All you have to do is take your nets: your job, your kids, your plan, your life, your everything – and let it down by placing it in the hands of Jesus.

Jesus wants to do something amazing with you – and you already have everything you need to make it happen. All you have to do is follow him and follow his commands. It isn’t easy to do, because we still want to be our own Simon.

But that never works out the way we want it. Matthew 16:25 says it like this, “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for [Jesus’s] sake, you will save it.”

Everyone’s life has a leader – and the leader of your life makes all the difference in the outcome. Who are you following?

Honestly: On my own, I am a power-hungry, self-centered jerk. Period. That’s what happens when you try to be your own Simon. But when we give our lives to Jesus and follow him, we become like Jesus. We become more. All we have to do is follow one concise command:

 “Let down your nets.”