April 24, 2024

April 24th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Mark 2:13-17 (The Calling of Levi)
As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. – Mark 2:14 (NLT)
“Immediate Obedience”

In my daily times of prayer, there is something that I find myself praying regularly. “Lord, help me to be IMMEDIATELY obedient to your voice today!” The reason that’s become an important part of my journey is that I’ve discovered that if I hesitate, wait, or mull it over, I open the door for a thousand excuses to NOT do what God is saying. “I’ll get to it later.” “I really don’t have time for that right now.” “God will forgive me.” My guess is that you’ve had your own excuses along the way. But here’s the thing. The longer I wait, the harder it becomes to do. The longer I wait, the more I convince myself that I’m just making a big deal out of nothing. The longer I wait, the more opportunity I give the Enemy to distract me, discourage me, or help me justify not doing it.
When I respond immediately, I lean in toward God rather than pull away from Him. When I respond immediately, I’m affirming to God that HE is the Guide of my life and not me. When I respond immediately, my commitment to God is affirmed and strengthened. James 4:7-8 got it exactly right when it says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”
That’s why I love our passage today. Levi didn’t hesitate. He didn’t try to bargain with Jesus or ask if he could just catch up with Him later. He didn’t tell Jesus that he needed to think about it for a while or check in with his boss to see if he could leave. Jesus said, “Follow me,” and Levi got up and went. THAT’S the kind of disciple that I want to be!
I wonder how many opportunities we miss because we hesitate when God says, “Move.” I wonder how many times we’ve been overcome by temptation because we didn’t leave when God said, “Get out of there!” I wonder how many times we’ve ended up doing what the Enemy wanted instead of what God wanted because we gave the devil room to whisper in our ears for too long. I wonder how different our journey of faith would be if we became immediately obedient to God instead of hesitant followers of His. I don’t want to miss out on what God has for me. I want to live a fruitful, productive, victorious life. Don’t you? Pray this prayer with me today. “Lord, help me be immediately obedient to your voice! Amen.” That’s God’s Word for you today.