The Thing About Following Jesus

This morning as we strolled through Target, the four items we needed already in our cart, Emmylou said, "Mama, I am ready to get Dolly back from Colt's house now." Tears welled in my eyes. My first thought: "Pull it together, Kelsey. You gave that dog away in January." But she wasn't just some dog, she was our dog, Emmylou's best friend and my constant companion. 

As we stood in the checkout line, I desperately looked around for something that would make me feel better. Coke... No. Chocolate... Maybe. A new magazine to mindlessly page through... And then somewhere in my head or heart or wherever those words come from, I heard, "Come, follow me." In a moment, I was transported to another place. The place? The Sea of Galilee. Jesus is walking beside the sea and he calls out to two brothers.

"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. (Matthew 4:19-22) 

Our family spent the better part of a year preparing to move to St. Louis, MO, so Sam could attend Concordia Seminary and pursue a Masters of Divinity with the purpose of ordination and full-time pastoral ministry. That year consisted of excitement and grief, fear and lots of physical preparation. But those four fishermen? They left at once, immediately. They left their nets, the very things that defined who they were. They left their families - at once. Because the thing about following Jesus is that it requires sacrifice and sometimes it's hard and sometimes it is even harder because you don't know the final destination. 

I wonder. Did the disciples have questions? "Um, sir, uh, Jesus, where exactly are we going? Do you have a long-term plan here?" I imagine Jesus calmly handled their anxiety. He wasn't afraid of their questions or fears and He isn't afraid of mine.

Because the other thing about following Jesus? There is hope and there is purpose for He is good. There may not always be concrete answers, but those days when all I feel is the sacrifice of it all. On those days when obedience only feels hard - He is there. And He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. (Ephesians 3:20)