When Jesus called his first disciples to follow him, they dropped everything and followed.  It was a radical decision, but vitally important if they were going to follow the One who gives life.  What about you?  If Jesus showed up at your door today and called you to follow him, would you leave everything?    

Christianity is much more than just head-knowledge, knowing and believing the right things.  Following Christ not only includes our head, but also our hands and our heart. If your faith in Christ doesn’t include your hands and your heart then it’s not Christianity. Jesus calls us to a life of commitment and change. He is our priority.   

Am I truly willing to have my life transformed by God?  Will I allow God to be God, or do I form and shape God into what I want Him to be?

Imagine James or John telling Jesus, “Sure Lord, we’ll follow you.  But could you just wait until we’re done catching fish?  And our kids have ball practice tonight, could we leave after that?  Actually, this is a pretty busy week.  Jesus, could you come back later?” I think a lot of us would respond like this, but that’s not what those first disciples did. They dropped their nets and left everything. They didn’t even truly understand much about Christ until 3 ½ years later after the resurrection, but they still left everything to follow Him. 

So really, it boils down to “the nets” doesn’t it?  Our plans and work that we believe is so important. But what if God knocked on your door and called you to drop that work for something better? Then what? People throughout the centuries have heard the call and made dramatic changes to respond to God’s call on their life. What about you? Have you ever made any significant changes to follow Jesus? Has anything changed in your life in order to be His disciple?

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the Gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35) So are you still hanging on to control, or have you handed it over to Christ? One of the hardest things for anyone to do is to hand their life over to Jesus, and then trust Him to have His own way in their life. We all have our calendars and day planners filled each and every month with things that we think we have to do, but when does God get to jot something down?  Not just something, but everything? Our old nature fights hard to hang on to control.

What could possibly be more important in life than following God’s will and His word? Is there even a close second? Life is ALL about Jesus. Those who know Him follow Him. Those who don’t know Him do their own thing. It’s natural to do your own thing. Are you doing your own thing?  Or are you following Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life; the only way to the Father?

The author of Hebrews quotes an Old Testament passage which says, “Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts” (Hebrews 3:15). Do you hear the Lord speaking to you today?

Make the call while it’s still Today. It’s your future. It’s your life to lose, or to maintain. At the end of life, everyone will see why Jesus takes all of this stuff so seriously. He would love for you to take it seriously too, especially now while you still have a choice. The day is coming when that option will no longer be on the table, and Today will be gone.