THE LINC COLLECTIVE

Scriptures:
– Matthew 4:18–20 (NIV)
– Matthew 11:28–29 (MSG)
– John 21:15–17 (NIV)
– 1 Peter 1:6–7 (NIV)
– 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
– 2 Peter 1:10 (NIV)
– Ephesians 2:8–10 (NIV)
– Romans 12:1–2 (NIV)
– Jeremiah 1:5 (NIV)
– Psalm 23:4 (NIV)
– Matthew 28:19–20 (NIV) 2.

From Boats to Boldness: The Journey of Purpose
~ Jarrod Eder

There is a moment in Matthew’s gospel that opens with Jesus, walking along the Sea of Galilee, and He sees two fishermen—Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew—and utters an inviting command that would alter everything: “Come, follow me, and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)

It’s a simple sentence, yet it carries eternal weight. The call of Christ doesn’t begin with strategy or striving, but with surrender. “Come, follow me.” Before Peter became the bold preacher of Pentecost, before he stood as a pillar of the early church, he was just a man with a boat, a net, and a willing yes.

And perhaps that’s exactly where God wants to begin with us: not at the height of our competence, but at the shoreline of our availability.

A Purpose Revealed, Not Invented

One of the powerful truths anchored in this story is that purpose begins with the Caller, not the calling. You and I don’t invent our purpose—we discover it by walking with the One who spoke stars into the sky and vision into our spirit. Jesus didn’t ask Peter, “What are your dreams?” He said, “Follow me, and I will make you.”

We live in a culture saturated with self-made identity. But the kingdom of God is built not on hustle, but on hearing. Before we produce, we must be formed. Before we lead, we must be led. And before we do, we must become.

Grace Not Only Saves—It Shapes

Peter’s journey is one of process and transformation. From this shoreline moment in Matthew 4, through the missteps, miracles, and moments on the mountaintop, Peter’s purpose grew—just like ours does—as he walked shoulder-to-shoulder with the Savior.

He was bold and brash, loyal yet impulsive. He walked on water but also denied his Lord. Yet grace not only forgave Peter, grace formed him. By the time we read Peter’s letters in the New Testament—decades later—we encounter a man refined by trials, entrusted with truth, and radiant with maturity.

He who once sank in fear now writes about standing firm in faith. The fisherman had become a shepherd. The unstable became unshakable. That’s what purpose anchored in Jesus does—it doesn’t just give us meaning, it changes our very nature.

Say Yes. Follow Jesus. Let Him Shape You.

This is the rhythm of kingdom transformation: a surrendered yes, a faithful following, and a lifetime of shaping. Too many are waiting for their purpose to arrive fully formed. But the truth is, it unfolds as we walk.

Peter didn’t become an apostle the moment he dropped his nets. He became an apostle as he journeyed with Jesus, one step of obedience at a time.

Roman 12:1–2 reminds us that our truest act of worship is presenting our lives as living sacrifices—and in doing so, we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. Purpose isn’t something we stumble across. It is something God shapes in us as we submit our lives to Him.

Your Life on Purpose

What if your next season isn’t about achieving dreams, but awakening to divine direction? What if it’s not about becoming everything the world expects, but about becoming exactly who heaven designed you to be?

You are not random. You are not a mistake. The God who formed Peter has formed you. Before the foundation of the earth, He prepared good works in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). He didn’t just save you for heaven—He saved you to bring heaven to earth through your life of surrendered purpose.

The Call Still Echoes

“Follow me, and I will make you.”

This is not just a sentence spoken long ago—it’s a present-tense invitation from the risen Christ today. It breaks through your failures, your fears, your feelings of inadequacy. It calls you out of comfort and into the life you were born to live—not a life of noise, but of meaning. Not busy, but bold. Never aimless, but always aligned.

So, what’s your boat? What’s the thing you’ve clung to for identity, for income, for direction? And what would happen if you laid it down to say yes again to the call of Christ?

Let grace sweep you off shores of striving and into the deeper waters of destiny. God doesn’t need you to have it all together. He just needs your yes.

From boats to boldness—that’s the journey of following Jesus.