Checklists

I am currently in a discipleship class* taught by one of my mentors and her husband. We are learning not only why we are called to disciple but more importantly, how. In this class I have learned a great many things, and we don’t have time to discuss all of them today. Instead, I want to talk about one specific thing I learned without even meaning to: Obeying God, immediately.  

We were studying way that Jesus called us to be disciples, we were supposed to memorize Matthew 4:19 “Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Great, memorization is something that I am pretty good at. So, I said it a couple of times, I wrote it in my journal, I even doodled it on a napkin (complete with fish and artistic embellishment) while I was on the phone with my sister that evening. Then, when time came for the next class I pulled out my Bible and actually looked at the verse. The verse was the same, but it was the verse after it that got my attention. Matthew 4:19-20 says, “Then He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ They immediately left their nets and followed Him.”

WHOA!

Jesus walks up to these men that do not know him, and told them to follow him. Not only do they do it, but they do it immediately! That is the word that I have been so hung up on. After reading Matthew 4:19-20. I have to wonder, if Jesus walked up to me and said “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” would I drop my nets immediately? As evidenced by many of my previous posts, I am not the best at listening to God’s will and obeying, much less obeying immediately.

I am great at getting things accomplished, there is very little that I enjoy more than a completed checklist. My friends love to tease me about my lists. This is not limited to things like “Moving Pro-Con List”. Before I make any major decision there are several pro-con lists that have to happen first. I made a list recently when trying to decide if the Bible study I found is the right one for me. Some people say that makes me a little crazy. Other people say it makes me thorough; it just depends on who you ask. Either way, if Jesus walked said to me, “Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men” would I drop my nets? My nets are things like family obligations, my friendships, my job as a nanny, and my involvement in the historical society in town. Am I willing to let go of these things, and follow Him? If God calls me to leave my nice, safe life where I have time for pro-con lists and calls me to something greater will I be ready? Will I be willing to go immediately or will I do so begrudgingly?

My purpose in life is to make disciples for Christ, whatever that looks like. If God calls me to be a fisher of men in Grapevine, Texas, awesome. But more than likely, God has other plans in mind for me and I am working on cultivating a heart that is prepared to serve anywhere at any time, even without my checklists.

 *The class that I mentioned is using the Real-Life Discipleship Training Manual (found here). I highly recommend it for people interested in learning how to make disciples for Christ.