Devotional Blog

Have you ever had a moment in your life when everything changed…forever? 

Country artist Kathy Mattea sings a song entitled, “Life as We Knew It.” It’s a sad song about a marriage relationship that has come to an end.  Perhaps you have experienced one of those life-changing circumstances.  It may not be a broken marriage.  But you’ve gone through fiery trials in your life.  Life as we knew it ended…today?  Yesterday?  5 years ago?  For our family it was September 1981.  We had a son diagnosed with Duchenne Dystrophy.  A few months later a second son came along.  He, too, was diagnosed with Duchenne’s.  Our life was forever altered from then on. 

Are you living the life you planned?

In a message given by Dr. Henri Nouwen to the graduating class of Princeton Theological Seminary in June of 1981 he said this: “Your life is not going to be easy, and it should not be easy.  It ought to be hard.  It ought to be radical; it ought to be restless – it ought to take you to places that you’d rather not go.”

Are you living the life you planned?

During this Holy Week my thoughts have been centered on the disciples.  Once they met Jesus their lives were forever changed. I would like to share some thoughts about obedience and the call of discipleship and going places we’d rather not go. 

In the gospel of Luke, chapter 5, we read where Jesus called the first disciples – Peter, James, and John.  They were fisherman.  Because the crowds were pressing in close, Jesus walked toward a couple of empty boats he saw.  He asked Peter if he would push out a little way so He could talk to the people from the boat.  When he finished speaking, he told Peter to launch out into the deep and let down the nets for a catch.  Have you ever stopped to think that not much significant ever happens in shallow water?  We must go out into the deep.  And, for many of us it’s where we would rather not go.  Reluctantly, Peter pushed out further and let down the nets.  Almost immediately their nets were full and breaking.  Upon seeing the size of the catch Peter and the others were awestruck.  Recognizing they were in the presence of the Lord, Peter realized his sinful condition and wanted to be left alone.  Jesus reassured him and told him from now on he’d be fishing for men.  The text says that when the men returned to shore, they left their nets and followed Jesus. Their lives, as they knew them, ended that day. They would never be the same again.

Further on in Luke’s account Jesus calls Levi (Matthew) from his tax collection booth.  And soon after he called the rest.  [Luke 5:1-11; 27-28; 6:12-16] What would cause them to just drop everything and follow Jesus?  There was no plan, no sign-on bonus offered, nothing – just “Follow Me.”

In Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship, he says this:

The call goes forth and is at once followed by the response of obedience.  The response of the disciples was an act of obedience and not a confession of faith in Jesus.  How could the call evoke obedience?  There were no in-between events…nothing in the text to suggest any sort of previous encounter that might have prepared them.

… It is Jesus who called, and because it is Jesus, Levi followed at once.

Peter likewise when he was called, followed at once.  James and John, Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Thomas, James, son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, Judas, son of James and Judas Iscariot all followed.

Because Jesus is the Christ, he has authority to call and to demand obedience to his word.  There is no other road to faith – only obedience to the call.

What would the call look like for us today?  For the disciples, Jesus was with them and he simply said, “Come.”  But, what about us today?  How does He call?

Jesus interrupted the lives of the twelve.  Has he interrupted your life? 

If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.  If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.  (Luke 9:23-24)

Are you living the life you planned?

Next time we’ll look at the cost of discipleship.

Bill Erickson