Mark 1:16-20

Mark 1:16-20
Follow me. I’m sure Andrew, Peter, James and John had heard Jesus speak – he was, if you recall, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God in Galilee. So, when Jesus calls, he is no stranger but the response of these men is what always stirs my heart in this text. Vs. 18 “and immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Also vs. 20 “and immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.”
It’s like Jesus said, follow me, let’s be about kingdom business and without waiting for explanation, these four men dropped what they were doing and followed Jesus. I wonder if I would have done the same, would I drop everything to follow my savior’s call? When I read this story, I think of the outcome of these men and I’m reminded of Bonhoeffer’s quote “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” In a sense, Jesus bid Andrew, Peter, James and John to die in two ways – first in the sense that he called them to die to themselves and make Him the Lord of their life; and second in the physical sense that 3 of the 4 would be martyred (Andrew was crucified on a cross in the form of crux decussate (an X); Peter was crucified upside down; James was killed by the sword; John was not martyred but was exiled to the island of Patmos).
I am filled with a great many thoughts about Christ’s call of “follow me” as he calls each of us to follow him into the kingdom of God, but most of all I’m struck by the thought that the kingdom of God is not Disneyland. I think that is my usual first thought about the Kingdom, comes from Sunday school where we learn about flannel graph Jesus who is nice and wants everything to be flowers and sausages, where I can have my best life now and that if I follow Jesus he will bless me and enlarge my territory. And I’m not saying those things can’t happen, I just don’t think that is the promise that comes from following Jesus into the kingdom of God, I think to enter I must die to my wants, desires, myself. I am convinced that if, at the end of their lives, I could give Andrew, Peter, James and John the opportunity to go back in time to this meeting with Jesus and re-choose, none of them would choose differently they would drop their nets, leave dad with the hired men and immediately follow Jesus – even to the cross. God, give me the faith, boldness and decisiveness of these disciples.