Trust the Good News That God Is Doing Something New

"...The call to repent is part of the announcement that this is the time for the great moment of freedom, of God's rescue.

That's why it goes with the call to believe. Jesus' contemporaries trusted all sorts of things: their ancestry, their land, their Temple, their laws. Even their God -- provided that this God did what they expected him to do. Jesus was now calling them to trust the good news that their God was doing something new. To get in on the act, they had to cut loose from other ties and trust him and his message. That wasn't easy then and isn't easy now. But it's what Peter, Andrew, James and John did, and it's what all Christians are called to do today, tomorrow, and on into God's future."

~Tom Wright, Mark for Everyone (from commentary on Mark 1:14-20, the calling of the disciples)

This resonated deep in my heart when I read it yesterday during some quiet time on Palm Sunday. How often do I trust in all sorts of things...even good things...including God as long as he does what I expect him to do? How often do I lack courage to follow God's call when he is doing something new that I don't entirely see or understand?

Peter, Andrew, James and John could have had no clue, absolutely none, as to what Jesus was calling them to. They went because it was Jesus who did the calling, not because of any promises or understanding of what they were getting into. I want that kind of courage and that kind of love: to hear his voice, to know without a doubt that following his voice is the most important thing I can do, and to follow him with all my heart.