Immediately. What does that really mean?
Since I entered into a real relationship with Jesus, I see things differently.
I see things with the new eyes and heart of flesh that God has so graciously given me. I love reading truths I have known for a while and seeing them come alive.
Lately, I have been reading the book of Mark. Nothing I haven't read before, but I am seeing something I have never noticed before.
The word: immediately.
I first noticed it in Chapter One.
"Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him."
(Mark 1:16-20)
Simon and Andrew were called by Jesus to be his disciples and they immediately responded.
They left their jobs.
And then James and John left their Father.
These discples left their jobs and their families to follow Jesus.
They left everything they had, basically.
Why? Why would they give up things they had worked so hard for?
Why would they leave the comfort of family?
Because they saw Jesus, believed in him, and KNEW HE WAS WORTH IT.
They displayed immediate obedience to the call of Christ.
And I kept seeing it. The word immediately was all over the place in the book of Mark. So, (because I am probably a little odd and love things like this) I counted how many times I saw the word immediately in this gospel. It is used forty-two times (give or take, I never said I could count very well). FORTY TWO.
I think there is something to be said about it.
So, Katy, when are you immediately obedient? Truthfully, I am not. And I am challenged. Once again, God's word is challenging me and shaping my mind to view things differently. And I can't help but think that the disciples saw Jesus so clearly. They saw and believed and responded.
If Jesus called me to leave my job or my family, what would my response be?
"Well, he wouldn't ask me to do that. There is no way."
That is a lie that I think alot of us, including myself, have bought into.
He absolutely would call us to leave our comforts to follow him.
He will and he does.
And my prayer is that my heart will not be so tied up in worldly things.
That I will be so in love with My Heavenly Father that I would respond in immediate obedience.
Jesus, give me a heart that is willing to abandon it all for the sake of your call on my life. I want to see you more clearly so that the only response to you is immediate obedience.
