Today, we (probably) don’t have the luxury of hearing the call to follow Jesus from Christ Himself, walking past us at our jobs and calling us by name. Yet, even if that was the case, I suspect I may not have responded as readily as the first disciples. We read that Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets to follow Him, while James and John also left their father after hearing the call. The immediacy of their response is inspirational and a bit shocking, if I’m being honest.

I don’t think I would drop everything so quickly in following the call of Jesus so readily. I’m unsure of how Zebedee felt, but most employers would question their workers leaving to literally follow Jesus. I honestly do not know how I would respond to such a radical call. Each of us has heard and accepted the call of Jesus in some way, and I’m sure there is a powerful element of hearing the call directly from the mouth of Christ, but I think there is still a beautiful expression of faith from the first disciples in their immediate response to Jesus.

My prayer today is to allow my faith to be more radical and spontaneous; to listen for the promptings of the Lord and to follow them generously and without hesitation. It is still our daily call nearly 2000 years later to ‘repent and believe in the good news.’

+ Jesus, thank You for how You have already called me by name. Help me to more readily follow You, throwing off all the distractions and sins that keep me from You.
Amen.

by Nick Kelly