To Be Called and To Follow

Mark 1:17,20; 2:14, 17; 3:3,13; 6:7

“There is an aspect of Jesus that chills the heart of the disciple to the core and makes the whole spiritual life gasp for breath. This strange Being with his face “set like a flint” and His striding determination strikes terror into me. He is no longer Counselor and Comrade, He is taken up with a point of view I know nothing about, and I am amazed at Him. At first I was confident I understood Him, but now I am not so sure. I begin to realize there is a distance between Jesus Christ and me; I can no longer be familiar with Him. He is ahead of me and He never turns around; I have no idea where He is going, and the goal has become strangely far off.” Oswald Chambers

“The response of the disciple is an act of obedience, not a confession of faith in Jesus.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The disciples response to Jesus’ ‘ Follow Me’ is a testimony to the absolute, direct, and unaccountable authority of Jesus. The call is all. Jesus is the reason. The only way to follow is to leave everything and follow him. Here is a call that makes short work of all our questions, objections, and evasions. Disciples are not so much those who follow as those who must follow.” Oz Guiness

“Have you experienced the discipline of dismay? If we have never had the experience of taking our commonplace religious shoes off our commonplace religious feet, and getting rid of all the undue familiarity with which we approach God, it is questionable whether we have ever stood in His presence. The people who are flippant and familiar are those who have never yet been introduced to Jesus Christ.” Oswald Chambers. 

Mark 1-6