What Is Jesus Telling You To Do?
by Peter Brokaar
As I was reading the above Scripture I automatically had to think of another passage relating to following Jesus: that of the calling of Levi. As we know this man was busy minding his (perhaps somewhat unsavoury) business when Jesus came along and said to him: “Follow Me.” Levi immediately got up, left everything behind, and followed Him. What a contrast! One man wants to travel around with Jesus and gets told to return home, whereas the other finds himself getting picked out and receiving a dramatic change of vocation. Clearly with Jesus there is no ‘one size fits all’ in terms of our calling!
It makes me wonder what Jesus would say to you and me were He to walk into our lives. Would He give us a change of vocation, like He did with Levi, Simon Peter and the others of the twelve? Or would He send us back into our home environment, like He did with the man who was delivered from all those demons? One thing is clear: we can’t presume we know for ourselves what He has in store for our lives. We can’t presume we know our calling in Him based on other people’s experiences. We individually need to hear from Him!
I am reminded of Oswald Chambers’ words (taken from October 25 in ‘My Utmost For His Highest’). ‘Never choose to be a worker (missionary) but when God has put His call on you, woe be to you if you turn to the right hand or to the left… He will do with you what He is not doing with other people. Let Him have His way.’
Jesus needs to be in charge of our lives if we are to be His disciples. If we have the desire to serve Him in some capacity, just like the man from today’s scripture, we need to be able to submit that desire to Him. If, on the other hand, we’re comfortable in our lives just as we are, we need to also remain open to the possibility of Jesus’ call on our lives and be willing to get up and follow Him. It’s certain that God has a plan for our lives that is tailored exactly to the person He created us to be. Let’s make sure that whatever it is He wants for us we wholeheartedly choose to follow Him!
Prayer: Thank You Jesus that You have a plan for my life, for which I can trust You. Please help me to follow You when You call and to submit all of my own plans to Yours. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Peter Brokaar is Director of Ellel Ministries Scotland and has been there together with his wife Liz since 2005. They have 3 kids, all born in Scotland! In his free time he likes reading, cooking, running and surfing. Being at Ellel Scotland has given him the privilege of getting to know God deeper and sharing that joy with many others.
Please feel free to use this devotional to send on to your friends or share with your church fellowship. Provided full acknowledgement is made to Seeds of the Kingdom as the source, you are also welcome to use it in a non-commercial way and reproduce it in magazines or other Christian websites. The copyright for any commercial use of the material remains with Ellel Ministries International.
