“Lord, I Am At Your Service!” II

“Lord, I Am At Your Service!” II
We are still on the call. Jesus’ first disciples were Simon and his brother Andrew. They were minding their business as fishermen when Jesus said to them, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” These guys did not hesitate as “at once they left their nets and followed him.” They left their sole means of livelihood to follow Jesus without any hope of getting anything better. Today the common trend is to leave nothing to follow him with the hope of acquiring as much as can be gathered! In Christ and through him we want to be the head and not the tail!
It was the same with James and John the sons of Zebedee. For them fishing was a family business, but as soon as Jesus called them, they abandoned the business in the hands of their oldman and the hired hands. What a sacrifice!
What did they hope to achieve by leaving behind everything to follow a wandering upstart preacher like Jesus? Jesus had nothing; so what impressed them? Moreover, if the first two brothers followed him because he gave them the job description, the next two brothers were not offered any. So why did they follow him?
Most likely it was the urgency in the content of Jesus’ message: “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”(Mk.1:14-20). The message is an imperative; it’s not something to dilly-dally with!
Whoever wants to be part of God’s kingdom must of necessity “Repent and believe the good news!” Repentance and believing in the good news are inseparable.
While we have often considered this text more on the side about the call, we have ignored something more important. Jesus started preaching alone! It is a single stick of match that burns a whole hill; or many hills. The lesson here is that it is not a crowd that sets a revolution in motion. As an individual never feel inadequate. Start something now and its rippling effect may bring about an immeasurable positive change.
Prayer: Holy Spirit guide me to start alone but create a rippling effect of positive change. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!