Category: Gospels

Let Them Come.

 

Do you ever catch yourself thinking that the Gospel is only for certain people, or only for people who act in a certain way?

It certainly is easy to forget that the Gospel is also equally available to the entire rest of the world, no matter what. It does not matter what their personality is, what their age is, or even how they come to Jesus… He loves us all deeply.

In Mark 10, it certainly seems that even Jesus’ disciples got caught up in this very same struggle. Look at this passage with me…

13 And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 15 Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” 16 And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

It was simple: All the little children wanted was to touch Jesus. Isn’t that us, sometimes? At some moments in our life, we just plain don’t have the flowery and perfect words to say, the happy perspectives to view life with, the perfectly balanced life to display, and so on. Sometimes, we’re so broken and so tired that all we want is a little Jesus. We want to draw near to Him, we want to be reminded we are known by Him, and we want to simply touch Him. We feel that we are not enough, and in our

We want to draw near to Him, we want to be reminded we are known by Him, and we want to simply touch Him. We feel that we are not enough, just as we are, to come to Him. Yet, in our weakness, we turn to Him to be our “more” that fills our gaps. During these particular seasons in our lives, we most definitely do not have it together; our life isn’t in a pretty little bow, all shiny and polished. We’re broken, and our most desperate need is the only One who can satisfy us. Maybe that’s you today, or maybe you’ve been this person before. Regardless, I think we’d all shake our heads and say that the last thing we want in seasons like this is to be rebuked and told that we had to bring more than what we had, or that we had to be more than we are, first. This exactly what Jesus’ disciples did and said in Mark 10.

Yet, as Christians, we put an unspoken pressure on one another to bring something to the table or be something already when we come to Jesus. Whether this plays out in our friendships, our small group environments, our churches, or even in our own minds (guilty!), there often is an unmistakable pressure to be, to try, to do or to become BEFORE we come to touch and be near our Lord.

Let’s make it a point this week to remember this: Jesus wants us and loves us as we are. Sometimes, all we can do is to receive Him with open arms, just as the children did in Mark 10. During some seasons, we bring nothing to the table besides a simple desire to be with Him. And throughout some days, we will feel weary from our efforts to fix/do/change/be something before spending time with our God. Let us find joy today in those who receive the kingdom of God like those little children: humbly, with joy, and without reservation. Let us also remind ourselves that neither we, nor those in our lives, need to come to Jesus in any particular way. He loves us as we are.

And thank goodness for that.

Abundance

I love the book of Mark.  At just over 11,000 words (overviewbible.com), it is far shorter than the other three gospels.   I’m a reader; I love long novels and rich memoirs.  So to find myself drawn to the shortest gospel surprised me.  I think it is Mark’s simplicity that appeals to me:  it seems like Mark pares down the life of Jesus to the essentials, letting His life and His actions speak for themselves.  Only a few verses into Mark 8, however, I realized that although Mark’s style might be characterized by brevity, Jesus’ actions are marked by overflow and abundance.

Mark 8 includes the story of Jesus feeding a large crowd of people with only seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.  Mark 8:9 tells us that in the crowd “there were about four thousand people.”  It is believed that these four thousand only included the men; women and children were not counted in the total.  In reality, though, four or five times that number could have been in that crowd.  So, with a very small amount of food (Mark 8:6-7) Jesus fed perhaps 15,000 – 20,000 people.

A few chapters earlier, in Mark 6, we learned that Jesus fed even more people –  5,000 – with five loaves of bread and two fish.  Again, the crowd probably numbered over 20,000 people.  And Jesus?  He doesn’t stop there, with simply satisfying their hunger that day.  Instead, after all of the people “ate and were satisfied” (Mark 8:8 and Mark 6:42) He instructed His disciples to gather the leftovers, the broken pieces of bread and fish.  After the 5,000 had been fed, Jesus’s disciples filled twelve baskets with the leftovers!  And after the 4,000 had eaten, the disciples gathered 7 baskets of leftover bread and fish!  Provision, and overflow.  Scarcity, and abundance.

The provision of food for the crowd clearly reminds us to have faith that God will provide for our needs.  The leftover food, though, speaks to the idea of abundance.  Not only will God provide, but He will do so in an abundant way. This thought is echoed in other places in Scripture as well.  In Ephesians 3:19-21, Paul references Jesus’ desire for us to live a full and abundant life in Him.  Paul prays that Jesus’ followers would be “filled with all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19), and writes, “Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.  Amen.”  (Ephesians 3:20-21).  When Jesus fed crowds of people with so little food, and fed them until they were satisfied, He reveals to them, and to us, that He loves to provide for his followers in ways that are more than we could ever imagine.  And in John 10:10, Jesus tells his disciples that He “came that they may have life and have it abundantly”.  The promise of an abundant life for His followers was Christ’s purpose in coming into the world.  My prayer for us today is that we rest in that assurance and embrace the abundant life that Jesus offers.

Did You Know There is an Unforgivable Sin?

I remember growing up and learning right and wrong. Most of the time I thought I was right but the majority of that time I was actually wrong. I grew up with 4 sibling, 3 brothers, and a sister. I can remember vividly a time where I learned right from wrong real quick….

I was around the age of 10 and I was riding in our family go-cart. Go-carts weren’t anything special back then, they were just a piece of metal attached to four wheels and an engine with a measly four bars to protect us from rolling over on ourselves. As I was riding with my older brother one day, I noticed something. I started to look at the grass and for some reason, I really wanted to touch it. BUT. I knew it wasn’t the best Idea. That’s the KEY here. I KNEW, somehow, that it wasn’t the best idea.

I can’t really explain what happen after that because all I remember was my arm scratched from wrist to shoulder after tumbling out of the cart and walking away thinking that it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be to touch the grass. Of course, my older brother got in trouble for my mistake, I felt bad because you can’t really prevent stupidity from happening, it just happens. I was ok afterward but I learned that it wasn’t the right decision to make that day.

Now let me tell you how that relates to our passage today. Mark 3 talks about the unforgivable sin, blasphemy against the Holy Spirit. After reading this passage multiple times, I started to want to learn more about what that meant. Can there truly be a sin that is unforgivable? Am I guilty of doing it? I started to feel unsure of myself. I grew up in the church and have been a Christ follower since I was 9 but after reading this passage I started to wonder if I have committed this sin and lost any chance of spending eternity with my savior. Read this verse with me:

 

“Truly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”

After reading this once, wouldn’t you start to think and reflect a bit on your life? Let’s start to explain what this means. Blasphemy is defined as, “the act or offense of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things.” (Merriam-Webster) When you blasphemy the Holy Spirit, you are speaking badly, or against, the Holy Spirit. The key to remember is that if you have accepted Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit will convict you. Conviction is where the grace of God comes in. Without conviction, there isn’t a chance for redemption. If there is no redemption, there is no need for a savior because there is no belief that one is in the wrong. Conviction can be simply put as knowing that you were in the wrong. When the conviction is gone, blaspheming the Holy Spirit is possible.

Just like the story above, when I was riding my go-cart and fell out I knew I shouldn’t have done it but I did. There was conviction, and I learned that it wasn’t a good idea to reach out of the moving go-cart.

Take this day to reflect on what the Holy Spirit has been convicting you about. Remember that Eternity with our savior is worth unimaginably more than any pleasure Sin temporarily brings into your life.

On Destiny

Today’s reading: Mark 2

This post started as a personal journal entry. I was uncertain on posting it. My hope is that my decision to post it publicly will be profitable for someone out there. Please excuse any lack of ‘flow’ here this was primarily a working document to aid me in testing a feeling I felt prompted by scripture to test:

In my estimation, the world’s version of the feeling:

  • A longing for greatness
  • A longing to have ‘impact’

In my estimation, the Christians’ version of the feeling:

  • A longing to hear “Well done good and faithful servant.”
  • A longing to make the most of the life God has given me.

The dilemma for me has been, ‘which feeling is real?’ Is the Christian version simply a rationalization of the world’s? The Bible tells us that man has a hard time discerning their own heart or motives. (Proverbs 20:5, Psalm 139:23-24, Psalm 51:10) This is the scary part. Our love for the LORD leads us to want to work hard for Him, but it seems that the harder we work, the faster we go, the further off the path we can find ourselves at a moment’s notice. 

At the root of these feelings, the truth to me seems to lie in questions of destiny. When I read two simple words from today’s reading, a command from Christ, the answer seems so simple, the words of our Savior; “Follow me.” From Mark 2:14.

What follows are reflections on questions that have helped me test my heart by working through what I believe (what the Bible declares) and how it relates to the feelings listed above in the context of destiny.

High or low views of self?

A high view of self or one’s destiny, in my estimation is cause for alarm. The pride of life is a tool of Satan, a lie that if believed in our hearts can lead to all sorts of usurping and troubles. (1John 2:16, Proverbs 4:23) Still a low view self or one’s destiny is also cause for alarm in my estimation, for this would lead to another set of lies. Believing one has no greatness in them leads to sloth, hopelessness and self indulgence.

What is the proper view of of self?

The proper view of self seems simple to find on its own. God created man, therefore God defines man. God defines each self. The proper view of self is then in Christ and His tidings of goodwill toward man. In other words, the proper view of self is defined in the good news.

How do these longings of destiny relate to the proper view of self?

It seems that these longings in destiny are righteous in Christ. Whereas the lies  in destiny are laid up in self without Christ. Put another way, the world’s definition of greatness is far different from Christ’s (Matthew 18:1-5). Usurping should be replaced with responding in love. Positioning replaced with being positioned by the Holy Ghost. Striving for greatness in the world replaced with striving for greatness in heaven. A proper view of self is that we are great, strong and rich in Christ but lowly, weak and destitute in self without Christ.

How can I maintain the proper view of self in relation to destiny? 

The image below is what formed in my mind from a line in C.S Lewis’ Mere Christianity,

“For the Present is the point at which time touches eternity.” – C.S. Lewis

In my estimation, maintaining the proper view of self requires discernment of truth in God’s definition of self. One of the many schemes of the Devil seems to be wrapped up in man’s view of destiny of self; having one believe they hold the Christian view of destiny, yet maintaining the world’s. In this state, a consistent fear and worry about how the past will affect the future or how this or that in the future will keep one from their destiny seems to persist and distract from what one should be doing now to affect eternity.  

I have been taught that often when I am anxious or worried about projects I am working on it is likely because I have not committed them to the LORD. That I am being prideful and working for my own selfish interests. 

Destiny, when considered through this perspective of where time touches eternity, is more of a state of present abiding in Christ rather than a future uncertain state to be won. Our destiny is in Christ and has been won. We experience our destiny by abiding in Christ now.

The more I consider what opportunities from God lay before the present, the more I become obsessed with souls. The more I trust in the LORD, the more I focus on others and their eternity and let the rest go where it will. The more I stay focused on now, and how what I am doing now affects other’s eternities, the more peace I receive in my destiny and impact for Christ. 

O that I might abide in God and go in peace. Praise God that He makes righteous those who believe in Him! (Romans 10:10)

Painting: Westward the Course of Empire Takes Its Way by Emanuel Leutze

Find Us Ready

I’ve never been much of a procrastinator. Of course, every so often, I would push finishing a homework assignment, studying for a test, or scheduling an appointment off until a little later than I was comfortable with, but rarely would I wait until the absolute last moment to do something.

Granted, I’m also that girl who feels late when she arrives less than ten minutes early to an appointment or commitment. What can I say… I like to feel prepared!

Sometimes, I wonder if I am this way only because the tasks and responsibilities that I dislike putting off, as well as the commitments I’m always early for, are immediate and visible. Because sometimes, I catch myself feeling that heaven is so far away that I can wait until a few more years to figure a certain area of my life out or begin doing such and such activity as a part of my faith walk.

The truth is, we have no idea when the Lord will return.

In today’s reading, we see three separate, yet similar, parables about people who were surprised by the return of their master… and we’re not talking about a “surprise party” kind of surprise, but more like a  “wow, I wasn’t prepared at all for this yet” kind of surprise.

In the first parable in Matthew 25, foolish virgins did not prepare enough for the bridegroom’s coming to have enough oil in their lamps. In the second, several servants handled the blessings their master entrusted to them much differently, and some even squandered what he had given them. The third parable looks ahead to the day all will stand before God to be judged, when the Lord will separate the sheep from the goats.

Verse 34 is encouraging to me as I prepare my heart for the day my Lord returns:

34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

We can certainly learn and take something from each of these three parables; undoubtedly, specific lessons within each one will speak to different parts of our hearts. Yet the common theme throughout each of these parables is this: I’m not ready yet. In each parable, the people were caught totally off guard by the return on the one they were waiting for. They thought they had more time to get their act together, per se.

However, they didn’t have the time they thought they did. Verse 13 tells us,

13 Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

Friends, today is a wonderful chance to begin preparing for the Lord’s return again. It is so easy to become distracted by the world and the schedule of life and forget that we are waiting on the return of our King. Let us never grow weary in waiting and forget to prepare.

I challenge you to take some time today to consider what you have been pushing off in preparing for the return of Jesus. Is it a conversation with a non-believing friend you’ve been wanting to have? Is it asking for forgiveness from someone you deeply hurt? Is it changing your habits or actions in a certain area of your life? Today is the perfect chance to realize, yet again, that THE day could come at any point. When He comes, let Him find us ready.

Upside-Down

     When my kids were little, they used to love to try to stand on their heads.  They couldn’t, of course, because they were only toddlers at the time – but they sure loved to try.  I think they enjoyed looking at their little world from a different vantage point:  upside-down.  This idea of looking at life from an upside-down perspective is what I first thought of when I read chapter 23 of Matthew, our scripture for today.   

In this chapter, Jesus speaks plainly to the scribes and to the Pharisees.  These men were known to be the most religious group of people in the land at the time.  But instead of praising them for their devotion, Jesus calls them out for their hypocrisy.  Hypocrisy occurs when a person does not behave according to the moral code that they say they believe in.  Many times, hypocrisy looks like living an upside-down life:  focusing on the non-important while ignoring the essential.  Let’s take a look at an example from Matthew 23.

First, Jesus tells these religious men that they are actually being impediments to God’s kingdom, and that several of their behaviors are holding other people back from becoming followers of Christ.  For example, He says, they are more concerned with their outer appearance than they are with the condition of their hearts (Matthew 23:25 and Matthew 23:28).  Jesus tells them clearly to, “First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean” (Matthew 23:26).

Jesus also told the scribes and the Pharisees that they were guilty of ignoring some of the basic tenets of Christianity, such as justice and mercy and faithfulness (Matthew 23:23) and focusing instead on tithing to the exact penny.  Indeed, He tells them, tithing and keeping accurate financial records is important – but, “the basics are required” (Matthew 23, verse 24, The Message).

These religious people, then, were living upside-down lives.  They were professing to believe one way, yet behaving in a way that directly opposed those beliefs.  They were like my kids standing on their heads, really – looking at life from the wrong perspective.  Eventually, my toddlers tired of being in this position and stood back up, a little dizzy but none the worse for wear.  The scribes and Pharisees, though, were adults who were held responsible for leading others in spiritual matters, which is why Jesus called out their upside-down behavior – their hypocrisy – in no uncertain terms.  The thing about hypocrisy, though?  Those around you, and those around me, are usually able to see right through it.

I love how Jesus’ reprimand is recorded in The Message version:  “Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that’s wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons?”  (Matthew 23, verse 24b, The Message).  Maybe it is because I’m a writer, but verse 24 really spoke to me.  Am I, are we, focusing on the wrong things?  Are we focusing on the punctuation rules, and not the telling of the story, His story?  I know that I am certainly guilty of this!  And so I’m thankful to read that Jesus also offers hope, saying that He wanted to bring the people of Jerusalem to Him as “a hen gathers her brood under her wings” (Matthew 23:37).  He only asks that we be willing to change our behavior and turn back to Him.  This repentance, this turning back, begins not in the posture of a toddler’s headstand, but in a posture of prayer.  Join me?

Looking for Jesus

I try very hard to look for Jesus in the midst of my daily life. Yet, I often struggle with looking for Him in the wrong places, sometimes even with the best intent and a good heart. Too often, I make finding Jesus much too complicated. Can you relate?

Our culture is one that idolizes other people quickly and easily. Entire magazines, shows and blogs are dedicated to the lives of people considered worthy of our attention. We look to people and products for a little “high” of excitement, for fulfillment, and even for guidance. We quickly jump around from thing to thing, and the next big thing seems to always be calling our names just as soon as we get what we wanted a minute ago.

Even as Christians, it’s quite easy to fall into this cycle and look to other believers we admire, sermons or podcasts, or well-known Chrisitan authors to provide us the amount of Jesus we need in our day to day life. While these things can be helpful and inspire us to grow, they do not come close to simply experiencing Jesus Himself.

Maybe we need a little wake-up call. Thankfully, in Matthew 11, we see some other early believers needed one, too. For a long time, this group of people had been looking to one man for their teaching, for their spiritual growth, and for gaining wisdom. This one man was John the Baptist. Yet, even John himself knew that he was not to be the be all end all of their spiritual walks. John knew that his role was to simply prepare their hearts for the One who was coming. Despite warning his followers that he was not the one who could truly fulfill their hearts, the people still gravitated toward what was right in front of them. Even when the Messiah Himself began His ministry by speaking to crowds, the people who had grown used to following John had to realize something: What their hearts really were longing for had finally come. Fulfillment Himself was there, just waiting for them.

Perhaps this week you, like me, need to shift your focus directly to Jesus Himself. We are incredibly blessed to live in a culture where we can readily find Him in Christian books, on our favorite Pandora music stations, in online sermons, and we can always learn from the lives and examples of other believers. Yet, it can be easy to exhaust ourselves by trying to feel Him and find Him in these sorts of places and forget that He’s already revealed Himself to us.

Just as in Matthew 11, Jesus was waiting for John’s followers to realize who He was and simply turn to Him, maybe today, Jesus is waiting for you to stop trying to find Him in things and simply seek Him alone.

The fact that verses 29-30 are at the end of Matthew 11 is not a coincidence, and I love that. Finding Jesus does not have to be some complicated game or an exhausting process. Today, I encourage you to just look to Jesus and remember that He alone is what can fulfill your heart. He’s already there, waiting for you.

 

Worth More Than Many Sparrows

The first time through Matthew 10, if I’m honest, seemed random, harsh and a bit abrupt. I could see Jesus building a “list” of instructions and informational points to prepare His friends for the next few years with Him, but I needed to spend some time rereading and thinking to see more of Him and His purpose for this passage.

First, God is not wordy. He is concise. He is truth and He doesn’t need to “package” His ideas to seem more palatable to us. He loves his friends enough to be honest about the truth that He knows they will face. This is hard stuff! “You will flee for your life, you will leave your families, (Anyone who loves their family more than Me is not worthy of Me.) you will be arrested, you will be flogged, people will hate you! I don’t know about you, but if I am trying to decide whether I am in or not on a life threatening opportunity, I want my decision to be based on pure, honest, truth. I want the facts, not a nicely packaged story about how my leader hopes it is all going to turn out. Jesus tells them, “When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, it won’t be you speaking but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” As I sit with Jesus words I find this FANTASTIC and TERRIFYING at the same time. When, not if you are arrested and don’t worry when you have to testify because My words will come out of your mouth.

Second, Jesus knew the weight and the cost of His plan to His friends. He knew as He laid out the truth of the next few years for these people that their response would be fear. How could it not? So as He spoke to them He said, “Do not be afraid”. He says it more than once in this chapter because He knows they need His comfort and reassurance. Then He uses everyday items like birds and hair to show them that He knows what they are facing, He loves them deeply, personally and will continue to care for them. Again…”So don’t be afraid, you are worth more than many sparrows”.

So what seemed in the beginning to be harsh and abrupt, now looks honest, loving and truthful. When the reality of truth is hard to live with, He says, “I love you so do not be afraid”. “You are worth more than many sparrows”.

Follow Me

    “As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.”  And he rose and followed him.  (Matthew 9:9)

     I’ve always been a planner.  September 1 has long been my favorite day of the year, coming just before the beginning of a new school year.  I grew up in New England, so our school year didn’t begin until after Labor Day weekend.   Labor Day itself would usually find me organizing my new school supplies and setting up my planner for the academic year.  I still love September 1  – after going to school for 17 years and then homeschooling for another 16, my love for the beginning of a new school year is probably here to stay.  For the past few years, though, I’ve also come to love the first of January, New Year’s Day, almost as much.  I love the beginning of a new calendar year filled with promise and dreams and plans.

So when I read Matthew 9, our text for today, in which Jesus calls to Matthew as he is working and says simply, “Follow me” – I’m amazed that Matthew simply dropped everything and walked away with Jesus.  I’m amazed, and maybe even a little uncomfortable!  Matthew was a tax collector, a man whose job involved important things like schedules and ledgers and money.  He was probably a planner, too, like me.  Yet Matthew didn’t even question Christ when He called to him to follow.  He didn’t ask, “May I just finish this one thing?”  He didn’t say, “Sure, but I have to come back next week for this reason.” Instead, Matthew stood up and simply walked away from the life he knew to follow a man he did not yet know.

To do as Matthew did would have been a challenge for me, to be sure, and in realizing this, it made me wonder if this step of obedience was difficult for Matthew as well.  I would imagine that it was.  Nonetheless, Matthew stood and followed, and in so doing he set a fine example for me – for all of us, really – to do the same.  In Luke 9:23, Jesus says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Clearly, just as Christ called Matthew 2000 years ago, He calls us today – and he expects our response now to be the same as Matthew’s was then.

     Even though today is January 10, and we are already almost two weeks into the new year, I’m still in planning mode, still thinking about the new goals I’ve set for this year and working to make progress on them.  But my study of Matthew 9 has reminded me of Jeremiah 29:11, in which God reminds us that, “I know the plans I have for you…plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  God has plans for me – and for you – that far surpass any I have for myself.  So in order to follow Him well, I need to approach any plan I make by first seeking God’s  input and His guidance.  Each plan I make and every goal I set should be placed before Him first, filtered through His perfect plan for me.  I encourage you to do the same!  May we all follow Him well, together.

How the Bible Teaches Us to Handle Temptation

Matthew 4

What can we learn from Jesus? Chapter 4 of Matthew has four subheads, titled “The Temptation of Jesus,” “Jesus Begins His Ministry,” “Jesus Calls the First Disciples,” and “Jesus Ministers to Great Crowds.” If we just look at those titles, we can see Jesus throughout this chapter in Matthew.

In this post I will be focusing of two things: how Jesus dealt with temptation and how Jesus began his ministry.

Everyone has heard the story of how Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights, then was tempted. I try to picture myself in those situations to make the Bible more real. I think of a time where I was so hungry I couldn’t think of anything else. I had just run a Tough Mudder. If you haven’t heard of one of it before, just imagine a 12 mile forrest, hill, and sand run filled with military style obstacles. After finishing that, I was exhausted and needed food more than I think I ever did. Luckily, McDonalds was only about 15 minutes away, so I was able to fill my belly with a large amount of fried food. Anyways, I’m sure you have your own stories also. So Jesus is in the wilderness, starving, only to visited by Satan to try to tempt him at his weakest points. Satan tries this three times before actually leaving, but each time he tries to tempt Jesus, Jesus speaks truth through Scripture. What does that tell us?

there is power in scripture

When temptation hits, remember that you have power over that temptation with God’s word.  None of us lack temptation. We are tempted on a daily basis, but the best question to ask yourself is how you handle temptation.

As I was finishing the chapter, one part really caught my eye. It was the part of the chapter where Jesus started calling his first disciples. The part that really caught my eye was how these men dropped everything to follow Jesus IMMEDIATELY. Scripture says it this way:

Immediately they left their nets and followed him. 21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

I try to imagine Jesus coming up to me today at work and saying “follow me.” Would I truly stop what I was doing and go? To be totally honest, I would probably have a thousand things cross my mind first, from “What about my wife?” to “I have a great job here, and I love what I do, so why should I leave?” I think this passage helps us realize that Jesus will call us at some point. The only questions is, are we ready to take the call?

Think about that today.

There are a lot of things that tempt us in this world and make us think this is the best thing since sliced bread. But what we really need to do is remember that we are in this world and not of this world; our citizenship is in heaven, so we need to be ready to answer the call. Reflect on whether you would answer that call, cheerfully, today.