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Hearts Afire: A Child's Life of Jesus (THEY MET JESUS) (Volume 3)

By Katheryn Maddox Haddad

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1 ~ ZEBEDEE

Zebedee was a fisherman, but not just for fun. That was the job he went to every day so he could support his family with a house, food, and clothing.

And he didn't just use a fishing pole. He used boats with big nets that he dragged in the water to get whole schools of fish. Then he would sell his fish at a market.

James and John ~ Zebedee's two sons ~ worked with him. So, did their friends, brothers Peter and Andrew. The two sets of brothers sometimes went with Jesus when he preached somewhere and neglected
their fishing job.

The head of their fishing business, Zebedee, was getting old. He was also getting worried. If his sons kept going off with Jesus, how could Zebedee keep his fishing business going?

They fished at night when fish come closer to the top of the water. One night they fished and fished, but the fishing was very bad. They hardly caught any fish at all.

Zebedee was worried that his fishing business was going to go out of business and he wouldn't have an income to pay his bills and take care of his family any more.

He, his sons, and partners took their boats to shore empty, and began cleaning up their nets.

Pretty soon they saw a big crowd on the beach. Jesus was talking to the crowd.

The crowd grew so large that Jesus asked Peter if his boat could be pushed off from shore so he could sit in it to teach. Peter agreed. Brother Andrew helped.

After his sermon, Jesus told them to go out to the deep part of the lake, lower their nets, and get a big haul of fish.

Peter argued, "Jesus, we fished all night and didn't catch anything. Besides fish don’t bite during the day."

But they really liked Jesus, so did it for him. They took their boats to the deepest part of the big lake.

As soon as their nets were in the water, hundreds of fish swam into them. Hundreds! The nets were so heavy, Peter and Andrew could hardly haul them on board.

They called to James and John on shore to come help them.

Finally the two boats were so full, they almost sank. As they headed toward shore, they looked at Jesus in amazement. He just smiled at them.

No one can control nature but God. They knew he had to be the Son of God. They bowed down to Jesus. They wanted to follow him now more than ever.

Back on shore, Jesus went up to Zebedee and smiled. Zebedee understood. Jesus had been reassuring him that his fishing business would be fine with his sons gone. So, Zebedee shared his sons with Jesus.



THINK & DO

1. Do you ever share something important with others who need the same thing? Maybe part of your lunch with someone at school who forgot theirs? Or paper and pencil if a friend ran out in school? Or even your time when a friend needed your help understanding a lesson or with a chore? What are some things important to you right now? How could you share them?

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