|
|
August 07, 2008
Now!
"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father."
Matthew 8:21
Often our struggle as Christians is not in deciding whether we should obey Christ but in obeying
immediately. We may acknowledge our need to follow Christ and commit ourselves to do what He has
told us. Yet when God reveals His will to us, that is the time to obey! God's revelation of His
will is His invitation to respond immediately.
Some would-be disciples pledged their willingness to follow Jesus, but they told Him they were
not ready yet. In Jesus' day, a Jewish man was expected to care for his elderly parents until
they died. One man wanted to wait until his father died before going with Jesus. This would be
an honorable delay. The man had to choose between this important responsibility and heeding a
call from the Lord. Yet God knew this man, and He knew the man's father. God would have taken
care of the man's father, if he only would have followed Jesus. This was an opportunity to walk
with the Son of God, yet the concerns of this life were competing for priority with obedience to God.
Timing our obedience is crucial. Invitations from God come with a limited opportunity to respond.
Some opportunities to serve Him, if not accepted immediately, will be lost. Occasions to minister
to others may pass us by. When God invites us to intercede for someone, it may be critical that we
stop what we are doing and immediately adjust our lives to what God is doing. Missing opportunities
to serve the Lord can be tragic. When an invitation comes from God, the time to respond is now.
First
Previous
Calendar
Next
Today
|
|
|
