Watch Thou, dear Lord,
With those who wake, or watch or weep tonight:
And give thine angels charge over those who sleep,
Tend thy sick ones, O Lord,
Rest thy weary ones,
Bless thy dying ones,
Soothe thy suffering ones,
Pity thine afflicted ones,
And all for the love's sake
St Augustine.4th century

This is one of the oldest written prayers of the Christian spiritual tradition.
It is a wonderfully pastoral and gentle appeal and suits our final thoughts
At the end of the day

THE GOSPEL

Mark 1:16-18

Before they were disciples of Jesus, they were followers of Jesus.
They followed him on a journey of trust. He was the path they followed.
They watched. They listened. They chatted to him. And eventually he showed they had become disciples.
Before you are a Christian you are a follower - watching, listening, chatting, discovering.
Jesus isn't around these days but there is a body of followers and disciples who can found all over the world - we call ourselves the church.
But why do follow him?
In the lake side story Jesus gives a reason which has been very misunderstood.
'I will make you fishers of men' - the mistake is to think this was a call to get others to be his followers. Jesus was expecting his followers to go on a recruitment drive to drum up support.
These words of his cannot be used to justify evangelism or missionary work.
He is using an expression from the Old Testament which is about changes in the way things are for people. It is about challenging the customs and morals of a society. It is about hooking out what is wrong; scooping up in a net anything in the culture that oppresses people, fishing out anything that prevents people from knowing that they are a child of God (Jeremiah 16:16, Ezekiel 29:4, Amos 4:2).
In effect he asked them to follow him and change their world for good.
Jesus invited four men to leave their daily occupation, follow him and challenge any corruption or social injustice in the fishing community of Galilee.
To follow Jesus is to challenge and change what in any society is not the will of God.
To start the journey of trust with Jesus is to see your daily life with the eyes of a compassionate and just God.