Today's Devotional

 

March 31, 2008

                                                                                         

Subject:  Straightway Obedience

Mark 1:16-18 "Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.  And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.  And straightway they forsook their nets, and followed him."

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I think that there is a time element to sin that we sometimes fail to acknowledge.  Sometimes as we mull over whether or not we are going to be obedient, we have already sinned, because as we say in the military, God wants "instant and willing obedience to orders."  Of course God is not like that drill Sergeant and He will allow you to choose disobedience, but often "waiting" to choose obedience is disobedience too.

When Jesus made the call to the first disciples, they had to deal with this.  Simon and Andrew were busy at their professions.  Surely they had to earn money for themselves and their families.  However, they didn't let that stop them from following Jesus.  I like the way the King James Version puts it, "straightway."  It does the same thing for the call of James and John later on in Mark.  It tells how they left their father to follow Jesus.

Today, check your obedience to see if it is "straightway" obedience or is job, family or the rest of life a convenient excuse not to follow Jesus right now.  Jesus wants you to follow Him and that without delay.

Carlen