Day 2 - Following in Faith
Posted by Michael O'Neal
MATTHEW 4:18-22 (NLT)
18 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers–Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew–fishing with a net, for they were commercial fishermen. 19 Jesus called out to them, “Come, be my disciples, and I will show you how to fish for people!” 20 And they left their nets at once and went with him. 21 A little farther up the shore he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their nets. And he called them to come, too. 22 They immediately followed him, leaving the boat and their father behind.
The path of faith requires immediate, single-minded obedience. In the verses above, we read how God radically interrupts the lives of Peter, Andrew, James, and John. They were just doing their job, going about their business. All of a sudden, the Savior of the World walks by, captures their attention, and calls them to follow Him. As seen clearly in verses 20 and 22, their response is amazing. They did not hesitate, they did not question, they did not say, “Wait, Jesus, we’re not finished working yet!” They followed Christ immediately and launched out into the unknown!
If you’re like me, it’s very easy to lose focus in life. Satan’s goal is to keep us so busy and distracted that we miss out on all that Christ wants to do in and through us. Have you been too busy lately? Have you been distracted from the path of faith that God wants you to pursue? Christ has told you to follow Him. You may not understand what that means. It doesn’t matter. If you follow Him immediately and with single-minded obedience, He will show you the way to go. So what are you waiting for? Launch out into the unknown! Jesus is much better than Allstate. When you follow Him, you’re not just in good hands, you’re in the best hands.
PRAYER: “God, forgive me for losing focus from time to time. Life is busy. Life is so full of uncertainties. But You’ve told me to follow You. And today, I’ve decided that I will follow You wherever You lead me. Give me the faith that I need. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
POINT TO PONDER: The path of faith requires immediate, single-minded obedience.
August 7th, 2007 at 4:40 am
It took me a long time to understand that it’s not about living my life for Jesus - because it isn’t my life. It’s about living the life he has prepared for me. That makes obedience a crucial issue. I’m not supposed to be doing what I want, even if what I want seems to be something good. “It’s no longer me who is living, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.” (Galatians 2:20) He gave himself up for us, so we give ourselves up for him - by doing what he wants us to do.
August 7th, 2007 at 5:42 am
For me it is a continuing battle that I fight to understand that it is about God’s plan and his will and not my own agenda. I too am distracted by life, and get caught up with wordly, materialistic ways. I thank God daily for helping me with that fight.
August 7th, 2007 at 11:29 am
I often forget as well that the passions, gifts and desires that I have need to be offered back to God. I want to take them, run and then do what I desire to do most days. The older I get the harder it becomes to flex with His plans. I believe livng by faith means “flexibility”. I need to be flexible when God takes me a different direction than where I had assumed he would take me. He is Sovereign over all of my little, medium and big decisions. And His ultimate desire is to receive glory for my life and to get all of my heart’s affections for Himself!!!
August 7th, 2007 at 2:01 pm
Wow! It was like each of you were speaking directly to me. I am so great at faith on a handful of things, but there are a few that I constantly fight to be in control of, even though I know that the life that He has planned for me is so much better than any life I could work out for myself. I know I don’t have control and I really don’t want it - this is His life, I should just sit back, enjoy the ride and give Him glory for the many blessings he bestows on me. I will strive to be better at the “immediate, single-minded obedience” that Michael speaks of.
August 7th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
I can feel life getting away from me some times, I just cant figure out how to slow it down. It’s sad to say it’s 4:30 and this is the first time today I have checked 40dof. It should be the first thing I did. I feel so blessed to have Peace Com Church and everyone who comes. I realized my faith was getting stronger when things just started making since. When I finally asked the lord to just help me to realize I cant control everything. I dont have to have an answer for everything. He will show you show you the way if you just have “FAITH” Great job on the web site Cleve.
August 28th, 2007 at 6:28 am
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