18 While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.
19 And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
20 Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
21 And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them.
22 Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
In this passage we looked at earlier another word jumps out at me. It is the word immediately. "Immediately they left their nets and followed Him." "Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed Him."
immediately | iˈmēdēətlē |
adverb
1 at once; instantly: I called immediately for an ambulance.
Are we really to believe that Jesus approached these complete strangers and spoke the words, "Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men," and those strangers instantly followed? No hesitation? No time to think about it? Are we really to believe they promptly obeyed?
According to these verses and that word immediately they did not take time to pray about it. They did not take time to talk it over with their families. They did not take time to weigh the pros and cons. Jesus invited them to follow. He commanded them to follow. And they immediately, at once, instantly did so.
That is not the way the church does things now days. There are countless meetings to plan. There are often votes where the majority rules. There are endless studies. It was so simple back in Matthew 4. Jesus spoke. The soon to be disciples heard. They responded immediately. We complicate things with our man made systems and problematic procedures.
That word immediately has really grabbed me. I am challenged and perplexed by the response of the disciples immediately. They did not know Jesus. They may have heard about Him. They did not know Him. They certainly did not know His mission was to die on the cross as the Savior of the world. They could not have possibly foreseen the resurrection or the release of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. There were so many unknowns and still they obeyed immediately.
Why are we so prone to make excuses for our disobedience or reluctant and delayed obedience? We can cover it all up with words like reason, logistics, planning, administration and a host of other things. We frown on impulsive people in the kingdom of God. Admittedly impulsive people get it wrong some times. I know I sure have. Yet doesn't God expect us to be impulsive when it comes to obeying and following Him. Isaiah sounded impulsive in [Is 6:8] "Here and I send me."
I think not to respond to God's call immediately is nothing short of unbelief and disobedience. Both sins. Now I realize that God may call a person to something long before He actually allows that person to actually do what He called. Case in point. God called me to preach on July 4, 1985. I did not become a youth pastor until 1988. I did not become a pastor until 1993 and I was ill equipped to do so even then. Even though I got experience and went to Bible school I was not really ready. I had and still have so much to learn. I immediately followed His call on my life on July 4, 1985. I did not preach my first sermon, if you could call it that, until the following summer. I only preached sporadically over the next three years. I yearned to preach. God called me to preach. He was preparing me to preach. Yet I obeyed immediately. I followed Him down that road at once.
Hudson Taylor felt God's call to be a missionary in China as a teenager. Many years would pass before he actually set foot in China. Hudson Taylor responded to God's call immediately. Even as a young man he began preparing himself for God's call immediately. God took the time to prepare for the work though.
What if we accepted the challenge to obey Jesus' invitation to follow Him immediately. No strings attached. No holding back. 100% commitment to immediate obedience. Whether that be reaching in the wallet to give your last funds for a worthy kingdom cause. Whether that be accepting the call to go on a short term mission trip by getting your passport. Perhaps that means accepting a ministry or starting a ministry.
That is a frightening challenge. There are many possibilities of where Jesus might call us to follow Him. I believe He demands and expects immediate obedience. To willingly make adjustments in our lives to be available to Him. To at least take the initial steps and go as far as we can go following Him until He gives further instructions or opens necessary doors.
Immediately. At once. Instantly. I want to live like the disciples. I want to courageously follow Jesus. When I know it is Him calling I want to throw caution to the wind and step out behind Him in faith. I have done this numerous times. It makes my journey with Jesus an adventure. I never know what He will call me to next. I never know where He might lead. I never know what amazing things I will get to see Him do. You can experience the same things.
Lord, help us to follow You immediately. I ask it in Your name, amen.
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