Note: The last post shared was called “Follow the Leader”  This post is going to be a continuation or a deeper dive into the same concept of following Jesus.  If you missed it, you may want to take a minute and read it first.

Have you ever heard the phrase: “Slow obedience is no obedience”? This is a phrase my husband uses on a fairly regular basis. However, I’ve never thought about it in relation to following Jesus until recently. Let me see if I can explain.  A few weeks ago during our High School ministry summer camp, students were challenged to get a Bible reading plan and to stick to it. To facilitate that journey our student pastor shared a summer reading plan that takes us through the book of Mark. Since I work with these students on a regular basis, I have been following that plan as well.  I mention that because using the plan is forcing me to slow down and dig in to the few verses that are assigned each day. At the same time I have been reading “The Cost of Discipleship” by Dietrich Bonhoeffer. There have been several days, when my mind has been blown by the correlation between the two. Reading them together has provided the opportunity for me gain a fuller understanding of this concept.  My goal in these next couple of posts is to share what I have learned, been convicted of, in hopes that it will encourage and/or help my readers to dig deep into God’s Word and grow in your own personal understanding. Anyway, back to the subject of being obedient.

Reading through the first few chapters of Mark, the word “immediately” started standing out.  That word is used eight times in Mark 1 (at least in the ESV translation) alone. One of the occurrences is in Jesus calling of the disciples to follow Him.  Time after time scripture says “and immediately they left….” and followed. The second chapter in Bonhoeffer’s book discusses this call to discipleship as well.  The call requires a choice and an act of either obedience or disobedience. While the men we know as the disciples all chose to follow Jesus immediately, there were others who chose differently.  Check out Luke 9:57-62 “As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Do you see the difference (bold typeface) between the disciples and these two men? They both wanted to follow, but not right now, sometime down the road.  Bonhoeffer says “ the first step a man must take is an act which radically affects his whole existence.” While we don’t know if these two men ever came back and followed,  it’s safe to assume their lives would have been radically different if they had followed immediately. Think of some of the amazing things they missed out on by being slow to obedience!  

There are several reasons why immediate obedience is better. When we obey immediately you don’t have time to second guess. Maybe it’s only me, but this is a huge problem. The longer I wait to do something I know I am supposed to do, the more I question myself and talk myself out of being obedient.  Questions like; are you sure? Or did you really hear that correctly? Or why would He ask you do to that, you’ve never done anything like that?, etc. come to mind. My slowness to obey provides a huge opening for the enemy to bombard me with excuses for not obeying. Another reason for immediate obedience is there is no one else to get in the way and confuse us.  I don’t know how many times, I’ve missed opportunities because I thought I needed to run my calling past someone else. Don’t get me wrong here wise, godly counsel a great thing and often needed, especially when it comes to major life decisions. But bottom line, they didn’t receive the calling-you did. They only know what you are telling them. One of the stories Bonhoeffer uses to explain this concept is found in Matthew 19:16-22, the story of the rich young ruler.  The young man knows what he is supposed to do, but questions Jesus about it anyway. Jesus tells him “go sell everything you have and come follow me”.  The young man chooses his wealth over Jesus.  But the interesting part of this story is that he is asking a question he already knows the answer to.  He is looking for someone to say, “no, you really don’t have to do that or go that far”. In seeking advice rather that being obedient are we really looking for someone to talk us out of our obedience to the call? The thought that keeps going through my head is “Stop looking for someone to tell you to do what you know you have been called to do and just go do it!”

The question becomes what is it that is really keeping me from being obedient?  I want to follow Jesus in whatever He calls me, but often disobey. Why?  A couple reasons come to mind fairly quickly: fear and control. Bottom line, I am afraid of losing control. As long as I have control, I get to choose how much I give, how much I let go of, what I do and when, etc. Here is an example that is so subtle I almost missed it and in fact have missed it for many years.  While I don’t have worldly wealth like the rich young ruler, I do have things that I fight to hold onto. One of those is my schudule and my time. I am a planner and list maker. There are few things I find more satisfying that checking all my “to-do’s” off my list. I’ve always used the excuse that God made my mind work that way for a reason.  And while I do believe my Administrative and organization skills are God-given abilities, me holding onto them so tightly that is sin and only feeds my disobedience. If something doesn’t fit into my schedule or my list, then I put it off. Writing is one of those things. I feel called to write and share the things God is teaching me, but I want to do it on my time table.  So, often I make writing an item on my “to-do list” instead of simply sitting down and actually writing. What that means is that more often than not, me writing doesn’t happen. I have so many partially written pieces and scribbled out notes because I was slow to obey. All missed opportunities. As silly as it sounds, me actually writing right now in the morning, before I’ve showered is a pretty big step in following immediately.  A week ago, I would not have done it. The other thing I’ve done in an effort to let go is to delete the planning app I have been using from my phone. It is a pretty risky and scary thing for me (some of you won’t get this, but others will). But it was something I knew had to be done in order for me be obedient.

I hope that you will spend some time reading back over these Bible stories and praying about what is keeping from immediately following Jesus to what He has called you to.  

P.S.  Part three of following Jesus – Following Jesus into times of rest, will be coming soon.