Following a Risky Jesus
Scripture Reading — Mark 1:14-20
"Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." Mark 1:17
Many new cars today are equipped with a global positioning system (GPS). These little gadgets-with soothing voices and readable maps-can tell you how to get from here to there.
But Jesus did not provide Simon and Andrew with anything like a GPS or even a map. Instead, he walked by the lake and invited them to follow him on an adventure with a risky Teacher. Our passage today pulls us into following Jesus Christ without knowing the way ourselves.
In Galilee, Jesus began telling others that God's kingdom had arrived in him. The good news of Jesus came after a four-hundred-year silence since the last Old Testament prophets had brought the words of the Lord. Jesus wanted to introduce people to God's plan: in him, God is among us; in him, God's kingdom has come; and the call to believe in him is the best invitation people will ever receive. Jesus was calling men and women into places where there would be little, if any, comfort and security.
An adventure with Jesus led his disciples to places they would never have imagined. They could assume that following Jesus would mean plenty of risk and inconvenience. But inconvenience with Jesus makes a life worth living.
<p>Lord, help me to assess my value in terms of living for you. I need your courage to lead me and guide me into places where I can make a difference today. </p><p>In your name, Amen.</p>
About the author — Reginald Smith
Dr. Reginald Smith is senior pastor at Roosevelt Park Community Christian Reformed Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where he has served for seventeen years. He has also served as a pastor in Paterson, New Jersey. He and his wife, Sharon, have three daughters, Janelle, Katrina, and Mariah.
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