"When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed Jesus."
Luke 5:11
I spent a long weekend with the Sisters of Charity in Leavenworth, and began that experience with Taize prayer Thursday evening. This chapter from Luke's gospel was read. The last sentence jumped out and me and I had an amazing time of reflection about it. The phrase, "they left everything and followed Jesus," played over and over in my head. What would that look like now? They literally left their livelihoods, family and friends behind and followed Jesus from town to town. If we did that today we would be considered quite irresponsible, don't you think? So, I thought of what that would mean in our world, today. It seems to mean we would leave behind anything that kept us from focusing our lives on Jesus and what Jesus taught us to do. We are to love each other and care for each other and over-involvement with ourselves and our own hang-ups would hinder us. If we are too prideful and all about what WE do and say, we surely would be hindered in our devotion to Jesus. Likewise, if we have other idols in the world, possessions, prestige, power; these would keep us from following Jesus fully. Jesus calls us to leave behind anything that gets in our way of loving God and serving God's people, because that is what Jesus has asked us to do. What does that look like in our lives? Love, heidi
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