Today’s scripture: Mark 1:16-20 (NRSV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?
My thoughts (Kay Olry):
I had never understood the whole dynamic of Mark’s account of Jesus walking up, saying a few words, and Simon and Andrew, then James and John drop everything to follow him. They leave home, family, security, the familiar — absolutely everything — and follow him.
Nothing is mentioned about making preparations, or spending time weighing the pros and the cons. No long discussions with family members and friends; they didn’t even consult their Rabbi. It isn’t as if Jesus was a well-known teacher at this point. After being baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus disappeared into the desert for 40 days, spent a brief time in Galilee, and then met up with the four of them in their fishing boats. He spoke a couple of sentences, and they didn’t hesitate — they followed.
It wasn’t until I read the first chapter of the Gospel of John that it made more sense; Andrew saw Jesus as he was baptized. He spent the day with him, and tells Simon, “We have found the Messiah!” I wonder if they really knew what they were doing — or if meeting The Christ was so overwhelming that no other decision made sense.
The entire Jewish nation was waiting on the promised Messiah to come; it had been promised long before. It’s interesting that when Jesus began gathering disciples, they weren’t the best and the brightest or highly educated people — no professors or priestly types. He chose common people.
It’s incredible what transpires from these humble beginnings. Jesus started a revolution and changed the world by using very ordinary people. The first disciples had no idea what the church would look like 2000 years later; and yet from this simple beginning millions and millions of people have had their lives transformed by Christ.
Do you ever wonder how you would react in the same situation? Whether or not you could throw all caution to the wind and simply follow Him?
The call to become fishers of people for Christ is the same today as it was then. Our part is to figure out how that looks in each of our lives. He doesn’t say, “When you get time, when the bills are paid, after you (fill in the blank _____)…” The way that Christ continues to reach the world is through our hearts, hands and feet, and voices. The Living God lives through us!
Does that mean we all quit our jobs tomorrow, start wearing robes, and spend all of our time singing Kumbaya? Of course not. The world desperately needs Christ Followers in every walk of life. It does mean that each of us needs to look at our lives and figure out how we can give more of ourselves to Christ, in order to deepen our faith, and to continue changing the world.
Thought For The Day: What in my life needs to change so that I can get closer to Christ? How can I follow Him?
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.