Saturday, July 15: “Immediate Obedience”
Mark 1: 17, 18, 20, 21:“Jesus said to [Peter and Andrew] ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him … Immediately He called [James and John] … They went to Capernaum; and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the synagogue and began to teach.”
Usually, delayed obedience is no obedience at all. Did Jesus tell Peter and Andrew, ‘I’ll give you guys some time to wrap up your business, and you can meet Me later, at your convenience, and follow Me”? Did He say to James and John, “You guys seem busy; I’ll come back later when you have finished mending the nets”? Did He go to the synagogue and say, “I’ll hang around here, maybe pray for a while, then maybe I’ll do a little teching”? In all these cases the answer is ‘no’; the action was immediate. May it be the same with us!
