The Tug
A poem inspired by Jesus’ call to the first disciples (Mt. 4:12–23)
The Tug
After Matthew 4:12-23
Something at the center
of You reaches for the center of me.
When You say “follow”
I’m torn—I know my life.
There is comfort in the familiarity of my days.
Still, I long to be born anew,
and something in Your eyes announces
a new day—rooted in ancient, clear waters.
Today, I observe the tug.
Today, I follow You.
This poem and the account of Jesus calling the first disciples raise an interesting question: why did the first disciples drop everything and follow Jesus?
This is the same Jesus who later commands the winds and the waves to silence. Surely the same power in Jesus’ words was at work here, too—right?
But we are rational (on our best days), and relational (again, on our better days), and the restoration of humanity cannot come from a top-down dynamic—as if the disciples couldn’t resist Jesus’ call. Love does not force its way.
There is wisdom in the saying, “People won’t remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel.”
I wonder. I wonder. Could something of Jesus’ presence, something in his eyes, his voice, or the way he walked, address the underlying longings the disciples had but couldn’t recognize? Perhaps they heard the voice, somewhere within, that created them.
There is a lot that we can say about Jesus. But perhaps what was most important about Jesus was that he walked slowly enough to see people.
Jesus doesn’t make commands from on high, but encounters us at the center of our being. We are seen. We are loved. We are invited.
Much love,
-DDW