When I moved into my first apartment, on my list of things to buy for my room was artwork. So I went to a store, picked out a couple of pieces I thought were nice-looking, and hung them on the wall. One of the paintings was of the ocean, with a small boat on the shore. I didn’t give much thought to this piece beyond noticing that it was a peaceful scene.
One day I was looking at the painting more intently, wondering what I could take away from it. I started to think about the boat in the painting as belonging to Jesus’ disciples. Because it was on the shore with no one in sight, I decided that, to me, the painting represented the disciples’ willingness to leave “their nets”—their occupation as fishermen—to be followers of Christ Jesus (see Matthew 4:18–22).
I loved contemplating the painting in this way. It was inspiring to think about the disciples leaving behind what they were familiar with as fishermen to heal and preach the good news of Christ, Truth, to their fellow man. To me that lone boat on the seashore, the disciples nowhere in sight, so fittingly symbolized leaving behind old material beliefs to learn more about the spiritual idea of God.
