Immediately
Your word is a lamp to my feet
And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105
Matthew 4:18—25
Immediately … immediately. They left … they left. Their nets … The boat and their father. And followed … And followed Jesus into the great adventure of the kingdom, trawling for people, all types, and giving them the chance for the new life that comes with following, too. This following, through the narrow entrance, Jesus himself, opens out life to a broad, rich way which leaves me thinking everything before it and everything without it is rather monotonous by comparison. If I had not followed him I would be stuck where I was, and I would go away sorrowful.[1] Yet, for all that, I can look back on days, perhaps this one, and see in them that Jesus renewed his call to me, called me away from what I was stuck on doing, but in my case I was less than immediate. Or I did not leave at all. Or I have not yet followed. So I’ve missed the adventure.
Lord, your call is a call of grace. I did not call you. You chose me.[2] You noticed me. You befriended me. On reflection at the end of the day, on reflection before you, I can say your call on my life is prior to all other calls. It is for my best. I know it. It is best for others. I know that, too. It often comes in the form of a need or a request or a claim from someone I know. I can see that, too. Yet I have these calls that I resist, put off, or begrudge. I can finish the day quite unsatisfied because it is you I am resisting. I confess anything left undone this night. Grant me tomorrow the joy of embracing your will wholeheartedly.
[1]Mark 10:22
[2]John 15:15—16