Give up everything?

"Peter began to say to Jesus, 'We have given up everything and followed you.'"
Mark 10:28

Pray-As-You-Go invited us to ponder a question with this reading today. Have you given up anything to follow Jesus? Fascinating, right? When I think of my relationship with Jesus, it definitely has enhanced my life much more than leaving any kind of void. But conscious decisions on my part, based on my relationship with Jesus, have led to my lovely simple life in a treehouse! I think what has happened is this; if there has been any gap or letting go of anything to pursue my life with Jesus, Jesus has filled in the gaps. I desire nothing more than a simple, yet joyous, life with Jesus, so I'm completely unaware of any loss. Unlike the early followers of Jesus, we are not likely to be persecuted for our faith, which is a blessing. There are other ways, though, within our circle of influence, we may feel uncomfortable sharing our own spirituality with others. Just last night, a guy was coming door-to-door in our apartment complex inviting people to a bible study. When I shared with him that I was actually doing a little bible reading myself, right then, he said I was the first one he'd encountered to that point who read the bible. He was really sticking his neck out! He was giving up his Monday evening to go around in, what could be an uncomfortable, effort to round up bible readers. Today, as we look toward Lent tomorrow, is there something we can think of that we can let go in order to spend more time with Jesus? Anything we can do to encounter people that we may not always feel comfortable around? Anything we can do to stick our necks out a bit? I believe this is what we should be looking at for our lenten practice. Love, heidi